


Consume Me

by ronans



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bipolar Disorder, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-01-04 16:05:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18347021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronans/pseuds/ronans
Summary: Less than two weeks. In less than two weeks he’ll meet him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> season 3 timeline is pretty much followed but i've also shifted a few things around. i'm hoping to update on trajeudis, but we'll see!  
> *sorry for the vague, lame summary i'm so bad at them and i'm gonna add more tags and characters as i update*

**3 rd January 12:09.**

Less than two weeks. In less than two weeks he’ll meet him.

Lucas doesn’t want anything to change. He’s been so careful keeping himself hidden and he can’t say he’s not terrified of what being exposed will do to him.

Another minute’s gone.

Without realising, Lucas begins gnawing at his bottom lip as he stares at the faded Timer on his wrist. The numbers are ticking away too quickly. When Yann plops down next to him, he’s so startled his teeth draw blood.

‘Uh, hey,’ Lucas mumbles, wiping his lips on the back of his hand and then hastily pulling his shirt sleeves down. Yann stares at him, a frown settling between his eyebrows.

‘Are you okay, dude?’

Lucas squeezes his eyes shut for a second before nodding. ‘Yeah, I’m good.’

Yann looks at him worriedly for a little while longer and then shrugs. ‘If you have something on your mind, I’m here if you need.’

A small smile tugs at the corner of Lucas’ mouth. He glances at Yann quickly and then away. ‘Thank you.’

‘You coming? I said we’d meet up with Arthur and Basile once I found you.’

‘Sure.’

Yann claps him on the back and stands, waiting for Lucas to gather his stuff. His pulse feeds the countdown, he feels it beat in time with it. He can only hope that the gang will provide enough of a distraction.

 

**5 th January 10:45**

‘Lucas!’ Mika shouts as he bursts in through the bedroom door.

‘Fuck!’ He scrambles to bury himself under the covers, glaring at his roommates as they barrel towards him.

‘ _Hey, Lucas!_ ’ Manon greets as her face comes into view on the phone. At least one elbow jabs into Lucas’ ribs and someone’s bare foot touches his own, making him shudder.

‘Hi,’ he replies less than enthusiastically as he attempts to shove Mika and Lisa away from him.

‘So much grumpiness for such a little man,’ Mika says, grinning at Manon. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll water him with some coffee soon and he’ll blossom into less of an asshole...’ Suddenly he scrunches up his face and gives Lucas a once-over. ‘Speaking of asshole, we should probably get you showered as well.’

‘Seriously, Mika?’ Lucas groans. Manon hides a quiet laugh behind a hand.

‘Kitten, I’m only joking,’ Mika says affectionately before mussing up his hair. Lucas just rolls his eyes and huffs in resignation.

‘ _How is everything, then?_ ’ Manon asks.

‘Well, there’s still no privacy-‘

‘Lucas still can’t function before noon,’ Mika quickly cuts in. ‘But! I’m sure he’ll make an exception to give you a tour, hm?’ He pointedly side-eyes Lucas.

‘Fine,’ Lucas grumbles, telling himself it would be easier to go along with whatever Mika suggested than finding out the alternative.

‘ _Woo!’_ Manon coos in mock excitement. Lucas accepts the phone off his roommate and almost falls flat on his face as he disentangles himself from the now twisted covers.

‘Careful, kitten!’ Mika yells behind him.

‘I wish he would stop calling me that,’ Lucas mumbles.

‘ _I really hope it gets out and becomes a thing_.’

‘You dare spread that around,’ he chuckles. Manon mimes zipping her lips closed.

With little enthusiasm, Lucas shows Manon around the new apartment, vaguely aiming the phone camera at his surroundings.

‘ _You should really think about becoming an estate agent._ ’ He glares at her in response and then becomes a lot more wary when her expression gets a little more serious. ‘ _So, Lucas… If I remember right, your Timer’s going to run out soon, isn’t it_?’

Well, he hadn’t been expecting that. He really regrets having that conversation with her when she’d seen his Timer before she moved away. It’s somewhat rare for people their age within a friendship group to meet their soulmate, the average age being about thirty-five. They’d managed to bond over how she’d already met her soulmate and how he’d only been mere months away from meeting his.

Seeing as he was in a constant state of discomfort over his predicament anyway, he decides to lamely dodge her question. ‘Yeah, Mika? Okay! Sorry, he wants his phone back.’

Manon purses her lips. ‘ _Okay, but we’ll talk soon_?’

Despite himself and his lack of desire to talk about his Timer (preferably ever again), Lucas smiles warmly and nods his head. ‘Bye, Manon.’

 

**7 th January 09:56**

‘Dude, there is no way that happened,’ Lucas chuckles, grinning at Basile. He barely registers the slight knock against his arm. ‘You have zero game.’

‘I swear! She was _begging_ to come home with me!’

Arthur scoffs as they make their way out to the courtyard. ‘I think you misheard her, I think she was begging you to leave her party.’

‘Yeah! With her!’

‘I can’t with you,’ Arthur mutters as Yann and Lucas carry on laughing. ‘Anyway, I heard Theo’s having a party this Friday. Maybe you’ll _actually_ hook up this time, Basile! Lulu, you’re on beer duty.’

Lucas frowns at him, narrowing his eyes. ‘Why?’

‘Like you even have to ask. The flat is free for pre-drinks as well, right?’

‘I’ll ask Mika, but-‘

‘Like he will say no,’ Basile titters.

‘Fine, fine,’ Lucas grouses. He nods his head to the side as they come to a stop outside his classroom. ‘I’ve gotta get to my lesson.’

‘High five?’ Basile holds his hands up expectantly, but Lucas just rolls his eyes and waves nonchalantly before slipping into the room.

‘Seriously, Baz, give it up,’ Lucas hears Arthur say as they walk off.

 

**7 th January 16:34**

He’s almost at the bus stop when he notices it.

‘Shit!’ Lucas spits under his breath. Something’s really, _really_ wrong. As if it would magically, miraculously change the current blankness of his wrist, he frantically rubs his thumb back and forth over it. His skin’s bright red by the time he stops.

With the amount of time he’s spent staring at the countdown recently, he’s shocked that he didn’t notice the difference sooner. Or had it just happened? He’s already about to drive himself crazy thinking about this.

This can’t be happening. This wasn’t _supposed_ to happen for at least another week. What freaks him out even more is the sudden realisation that he has no idea who his soulmate is.

His mind hastily runs back through the day but nothing unusual leaps out at him; he didn’t meet anyone new, he’s sure of it.

‘Shit,’ he repeats more quietly. When he looks up, he notices his vision’s blurry with confused and frustrated tears and his bus is pulling away from the curb.

With the bus stop now empty, he drags his feet before slumping down in one of the chairs. It’s only twenty minutes until the next bus comes and he knows he’s going to be staring at his empty wrist for the entirety of that time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He can’t sleep these days. And if he can, it’s for no more than an hour or two. After letting out a loud sigh, he buries his face in his pillow. He only debates with himself for a moment before he gets up to grab his laptop. He figures he’ll never be able to sleep unless he at least attempts to get some answers.

**10 th January 02:55**

He can’t sleep these days. And if he can, it’s for no more than an hour or two. After letting out a loud sigh, he buries his face in his pillow. He only debates with himself for a moment before he gets up to grab his laptop. He figures he’ll never be able to sleep unless he at least attempts to get some answers.

 

_Search: Timer disappearing_

_1,475,980 results_

**_ What does it mean when your Timer disappears? – Julian Dahl _ **

 

Lucas hovers over the link for a second before clicking on the article.

 

_A common question many ask after the initial ‘what do our Timers represent?’ and ‘why are they there?’, is ‘what does it mean when my Timer disappears?’._

_The short explanation is, you have met your soulmate._

 

Lucas groans and quickly taps off the essay, not bothering to read any further.

 

_Search: Timer disappearing before it was supposed to_

_143,949 results_

**_ Timers & Accuracy – Niccolò_** **_Fares _ **

_In the grand scheme of things, research into Timers- their meaning and accuracy- is just in its infancy. There have, however, been many recorded cases of discrepancies in when the Timers have predicted a subject will meet their soulmate and when the event actually occurred._

_One particular case study…_

_Search: Timer disappearing when you haven’t met your soulmate_

_98,782 results_

 

The amount of results for both searches are considerably less. He scrolls through the new list of links until he finds the closest match to his own situation. He clicks and is taken to a Reddit thread from a couple of years ago.

 

 **_kviig239:_ ** _I’m freaking out because my Timer disappeared today, but it wasn’t supposed to for another 6 months? And I’m sure I didn’t meet anyone new because I’ve been in the house all day, does anyone know what this means??_

 

Lucas glances down at the responses, a feeling of anticipation and dread beginning to creep up his spine.

  * **_21_21:_** _Are you sure it disappeared today, OP? It could have been the day before or something like that and you just didn’t notice?_



**_I’m sure, I looked at it every morning and it was there this morning and now it’s just gone :/_ **

_I’m so sorry, I hope you can figure out what happened!_

  * **_isakyaki:_** _I hate to tell you this, but there’s a possibility your soulmate passed away._



 

Lucas feels sick. He slams his laptop shut and pushes it to the other side of the bed. Sure, he had been terrified of his soulmate being a guy and having to live with the repercussions of that, but the idea that his soulmate died? He doesn’t even want to think about it.

He retreats under his covers, hoping sleep will claim him, but knowing it won’t.

 

**11 th January 13:26**

Lucas has to start rubbing his temples to stave off a migraine as his friends loudly discuss the party happening later on tonight.

‘I heard Daphné is gonna be there,’ Arthur sing-songs, wagging his eyebrows. Basile’s jaw practically hits the floor.

‘Don’t encourage him,’ Yann laughs, lightly shoving Basile’s head.

‘This is a _sign_! I had another dream about us the other-‘

‘Shit, Basile, no one wants to hear about your freaky sex dreams,’ Lucas interrupts, letting his disgust bleed into his tone and facial expression.

‘ _Woah_ ,’ Arthur mouths after an awkward moment of silence. ‘Something the matter, Lulu? Wrong side of the bed and all that?’

Lucas just shakes his head and tries to ignore the three pairs of eyes now trained on him. Basile manages to stay quiet for 0.2 seconds before continuing to prattle on about his dream. Lucas can still feel Yann’s concerned gaze burning into the side of his skull.

After finally paying some attention to his empty stomach, Lucas begins to nibble at his sandwich, drowning the rest of the conversation out. He’s ultimately startled out of his trance when Arthur snaps his fingers in front of his face.

‘Hm?’

‘Ah, he’s returned to Earth, excellent.’ Lucas rolls his eyes and places his half-eaten food back on his lunch tray. ‘So, we’ll be round at 6, yeah?’

‘Okay, sure.’

Arthur bobs his head, satisfied, and then checks his phone. ‘Shit, we’d better go. Ah, Lulu? Beer?’ Arthur reminds him, tapping the table twice with his index finger. Lucas squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose, nodding. ‘ _Drama queen_ ,’ Arthur adds, pushing back his chair.

After the other boys have left, Yann levels him with a no-bullshit stare. Lucas waits for him to look away before sighing heavily when he doesn’t. ‘What?’

‘You don’t look so good.’

‘Wow, thank you.’ Lucas crosses his arms grumpily and shuffles in his seat, avoiding Yann’s gaze.

‘Have you been sleeping?’

‘Yeah…’ Not entirely a lie. He’d slept for an hour and a half last night, a new personal record.

After a slightly tense silence, Yann exhales. ‘Lucas… I meant what I said. I’m here if you need me.’

Lucas’ heart seems to twist uncomfortably. _Should_ he talk about it? No. And that’s more on him not wanting to have a full-on breakdown than not wanting to confide in his best friend.

‘Thanks, but, seriously… I’m fine.’

Yann still doesn’t look convinced but drops the subject anyway. Lucas is endlessly thankful. Eventually, Yann cocks his head to the side and stands. ‘C’mon, we’re going to be late.’

Lucas allows himself a private moment to brush his fingers under his jacket sleeve and across his blank wrist before he gathers his rubbish and follows Yann out of the cafeteria. His sleep deprived brain already can’t wait for tonight to be over.

 

**14 th January 11:57**

Astoundingly, Lucas managed to sleep for more than 2 hours last night, so he’s counting that as a success. The phantom burn on his wrist still screams at him that it’s empty, but he’s trying to train himself to ignore it, to become numb. Yann seems to be a little less troubled about Lucas’ state of mind due to Lucas managing to join in with his casual banter as they sit in the courtyard waiting for their next class.

‘Hey, guys,’ Emma says chirpily as she sits down at their bench. Yann and Lucas break off their conversation and look up, twin wary expressions on their faces.

‘Hi, Emma,’ Yann speaks first, giving her a side-hug.

She jumps straight into what she’d approached them for. ‘So, I’m having a party on Saturday night and it’d be great if you and the others could come.’

Lucas squints at her. He does miss their close friendship a lot, but he can’t help but feel odd that she’s inviting them herself after everything that had happened. He just assumed Daphné would have passed on the invite.

‘That sounds cool, I’ll be there,’ Yann replies happily, dipping his head. Lucas quickly schools his features and then smiles at Emma.

‘Me too. Very cool.’ He inwardly cringes at his awkward phrasing.

Emma rapidly flits her eyes between the two of them, eyebrows raised. She presses her lips together and then nods. ‘ _Cool_ , well, I’ll message you the details. It’s gonna be pretty wild.’ She nods again and then slaps her legs before standing up.

‘Seriously, dude?’ Yann laughs once Emma’s out of earshot. Lucas nudges him in the side.

‘What?!’

‘ _Very cool_.’

‘Ah, yeah, like your side-hug was any better.’

Yann shoves him back and shakes his head. ‘Shut up.’

 

**19 th January 22:15**

He’s kind of missed feeling so hazy, smoke filling up his lungs and slowly spinning his brain into cotton. The pink neon light bathes his body and coats the teenagers dancing in the next room. A song Lucas has never heard before thrums through the foundations of the house and wraps around his eardrums as he tries to focus on his friends.

‘So, who would you want to fuck?’

What a fucking question. He doesn’t want to answer; he doesn’t want to feel the bile come up as he forces himself to burrow away inside his own skin. His eyelids droop slightly as he scans the room. He pulls on the joint and then lazily lets the smoke out.

Basile, obsessed with Daphné less than a minute ago, points out multiple girls moving in time with the music on the make-shift dancefloor. Arthur and Yann nod approvingly, clinking their beer bottles with Basile’s.

‘I wouldn’t let that one even go near my dick,’ Lucas says without thinking.

‘Jeez, okay,’ Arthur responds with an eyebrow raise. ‘Who _would_ you let go near your dick then, Casanova?’

And he points her out, a girl who could have been anyone. A girl with a too-drunk friend who unfortunately ends up in his orbit. Arthur’s mouth drops open while Basile and Yann point at the girl excitedly behind her back.

Chloé.

Lucas switches on autopilot and flirts because it’s easy, almost second nature at this point he’s been doing it for so long. He breathes smoke into her mouth and stares into her eyes, flicking his gaze to her lips every now and then like a reflex.

His autopilot fucks off after the boys have left and she’s grabbed his left wrist, excitement in her eyes.

‘You don’t have a Timer either?!’ Chloé says eagerly.

Lucas gulps, eyes widening. And what the fuck is he supposed to reply to that?

‘Uh… n-nope,’ he stutters. Chloé is positively _beaming_.

‘That’s so cool! I’ve only met one other person like me.’

Lucas allocates one respectful second to feel bad before he’s back to full on I-have-to-protect-myself mode.

‘So when did you-‘

He immediately really, really wishes he hadn’t done it. But here he is, kissing this random first year at a party while his inner turmoil threatens to completely bubble over into the outside world. He slides his arms smoothly around her waist, feeling the fabric of her dress underneath his fingertips. He’s not sure if he’s ever been more aware of his left wrist and what the emptiness could possibly mean for him than right now.

He attempts to lose himself in her but of course it doesn’t work. He’s still not lost by the time he’s forced to leap out the window to avoid the police. So achingly present and aware of that tiny patch of skin and the places it brushed against on Chloé’s body.

If he could sleep, he’d be out for a decade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a whole ass easter egg hunt.  
> i'm predicting that the next couple of chapters are going to be a lot longer from what i've planned out :)  
> [tumblr](http://cheloueliott.tumblr.com)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He can’t believe he’s being blackmailed. But he thinks if anyone were to blackmail him successfully, it would be Imane. She’d found the baggie of weed that had somehow fallen out of his pocket at the party and was refusing to return it unless he and his friends attended this dumb meeting Daphné’s throwing together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i was gonna add a lot more to this chapter, but i ended up having writer's block for the majority of this week. i'd basically written the whole of the fic apart from this chapter lmao. i've gone a bit off script canon-wise but ya know.  
> next chapter should be longer (and hopefully on time)!

**25 th January 16:38**

He can’t believe he’s being blackmailed. But he thinks if anyone were to blackmail him successfully, it would be Imane. She’d found the baggie of weed that had somehow fallen out of his pocket at the party and was refusing to return it unless he and his friends attended this dumb meeting Daphné’s throwing together.

**Chat-Bite**

**@lucallemant:** _where are you guys?_

Lucas huffs and pockets his phone, glancing around the room. He guesses it’s still early, but the turnout really isn’t looking very promising. He’ll literally throttle his friends if they don’t show.

Daphné is at the front of the room, fiddling with a stack of papers. He can see she’s trying to stay upbeat even though the room’s barely half full.

‘Don’t worry, Daphné! People will turn up, it’s still early,’ he hears Imane soothe. Imane then catches his eye and lifts her eyebrows. Lucas can only imagine she’s pissed he’d arrived on his own.

The door clatters as it hits the wall. Lucas whips his head around and watches as his friends stumble in, laughing and shoving at each other. He lets out a breath of relief and looks back at Imane, spreading his arms out. She rolls her eyes, but he can see she’s smirking.

‘Girls? Drinks? Where?’ Arthur opens with as he slumps down in his seat.

‘Girls,’ Lucas points to the front of the room. ‘Drinks,’ he vaguely gestures to the corner where a pathetic looking table stands filled with jugs of juice and stale cakes.

‘Wild Friday night,’ Yann sighs beside him. Arthur grumbles and leans over Basile to push Lucas’ knee.

‘Fuck, Lucas… Well, at least Basile’s happy.’ Arthur tilts his head towards the man in question who’s practically drooling staring at Daphné.

‘She waved at me, guys!’ he says excitedly, flailing his arms back at Daphné.

‘She’s sorting out her hair, Baz, stop,’ Arthur groans, slapping at Basile’s arm until he puts it down. Lucas smiles slightly and shakes his head. ‘ _But_ Lucas’ admirer definitely isn’t sorting her hair, she’s even winking at him.’

Oh God. He hadn’t noticed her until Arthur pointed her out, but sure enough, Chloé is sat in the row in front of them, eyes trained on Lucas. ‘Jesus,’ Lucas mutters under his breath, trying to ignore the spike of anxiety in his stomach.

‘So did you guys hook up?’ Basile asks.

Lucas bites his lip and turns away, gaze moving to the door. The world stops.

In walks an unfairly attractive guy in an over-sized tan jacket. Looking at him, something clicks perfectly into place inside Lucas, though he’d never admit it. The boy takes the seat closest to the door and looks up.

His reaction to the sudden eye contact is visceral. His heart beats a little faster and the rest of the noise around him drowns itself out. The seconds stretch out as Lucas’ mouth goes dry.

‘So did you?’

He almost gets whiplash from how quickly his head snaps back around to face his friends. What had they been talking about?

‘You could say that,’ he says, hoping his answer makes sense. His brain’s rearranged itself in the last minute.

‘What does that mean? _Did_ you hook up with her?’

Ah. Chloé.

‘Yeah, we hooked up,’ he replies, voice detached. He risks a look in her direction and she’s still staring at him. Daphné, his unlikely saviour, decides to begin the meeting at that point and he lets out a pleased sigh.

If asked later, Lucas wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone what the fuck the hour-long meeting had been about, nor what he’d written on the questionnaire. He’d spent the entire time sneaking, what he hopes were subtle, glimpses of the new guy. He’s pretty sure he’s in love by the time Daphné wraps the meeting up.

Basile slaps him on the arm as he stands up. The horrific sound of his chair scraping against the floor jerks Lucas’ focus back to his friends.

‘Lucas, if Daphné says anything…’ Basile holds his hand up to his ear, miming talking on the phone. Lucas just rolls his eyes and nods.

‘You coming, dude?’ Yann asks.

‘I… I said I’d help Imane tidy up,’ Lucas stumbles out, leg bouncing up and down slightly at the excuse.

‘Part of the girl squad now, huh?’ Arthur says, grinning.

‘Definitely not,’ Lucas grouses, lightly kicking at Arthur’s shin. Yann shakes his head and then pats Lucas on the back before herding Basile and Arthur away.

As his friends leave, his gaze is drawn back to the corner of the room against his will. He watches as the new guy gets out of his chair and confidently saunters over to Imane, sparing a quick glance in Lucas’ vicinity. Lucas narrows his eyes as he observes them interact, Imane with an easy grin on her face and the whole of the sun lighting up the other guy’s face. He wonders, absently, how they know each other as he’s never seen the other boy before.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Chloé start to make her way over to him, so he shoots up out of his seat and hurries over to Imane. She looks shocked at his sudden arrival.

‘Lucas…?’

Okay, he definitely should have gone up to someone else because the new guy’s close proximity is fucking with his ability to speak.

‘Hey, Imane! Good… good meeting,’ he stutters. He can see Tan Jacket biting his lower lip to hide an amused smile.

Imane just stares at him warily. Emma joins their small group and frowns at Lucas. ‘Lucas, are you okay? You look like you’re about to pass out.’

‘Yep, I’m fine,’ he forces out, plastering a smile on his face. Emma nods and continues on to go and talk to Alexia.

Imane puffs out her cheeks as she exhales, seemingly dismissing Lucas’ odd behaviour. ‘Anyway, have you guys met?’

It takes a moment for him to realise who exactly Imane’s referring to.

‘I don’t think we have… Well, not formally.’

Tan Jacket has a very, _very_ nice voice, Lucas has decided. Their eyes have locked now, and Lucas couldn’t look away if he tried. There’s a slight spark in his eyes that’s captivating.

‘Lucas,’ he manages to croak out after too-long a pause.

‘I’m Eliott.’

And the world stops spinning again. Lucas offers up a small smile as his pulse quickens. He can feel a blush creeping under his skin that he prays won’t show.

‘Hey, Lucas!’ An uncomfortable shiver works its way up his spine at the sound of her voice; he almost feels dizzy from the rapid change of emotions.

‘Hi,’ he replies, somehow breaking his gaze away from Eliott. Chloé’s standing way too close to him with a chipper grin on her face.

‘I tried to catch your eye earlier, but you must have not seen me.’

Lucas lifts his eyebrows and purses his lips. He chances a look at Eliott who seems to be burning a hole in the side of Chloé’s head with the intensity of his stare.

‘Thanks for coming to the meeting,’ Imane says, tone dripping with false pleasantness. Lucas had almost forgotten she was still standing there. He feels a bit of solidarity with Imane at the thought that she might not like Chloé that much either.

‘No problem! I think it’s a great idea,’ Chloé chirps. She then nudges Lucas and focuses all of her attention back on him. ‘I was going to see if you wanted to walk to the bus stop together? Or maybe go to grab something to eat?’

Lucas gulps and flicks his eyes between Imane and Eliott, searching desperately for an excuse. He makes eye contact with Eliott again. He seems to have ceased murdering Chloé with his eyes and now has a playful smirk on his face.

‘Actually, Lucas and I already have plans.’

Lucas feels like he just got the wind knocked out of him. Chloé’s brows have pulled together in a confused frown and Imane’s staring at Eliott like he’s grown an extra head.

‘Oh really? What are you doing?’

Eliott’s eyebrows jump in surprise. ‘Straight to the personal questions, okay.’

Chloé’s frown melts into an apologetic smile. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean-’

He shakes his head and grins. ‘I’m kidding. We’re studying together.’

Chloé dips her head, pressing her lips together firmly. She looks back at Lucas and immediately cheers up. ‘Well, I’ll message you and we can rearrange?’

Lucas reluctantly nods. ‘Sure.’

‘Cool! See you…’ she tapers off.

‘Eliott.’ He’s looking at Lucas as he says it and Lucas thinks his brain might be short-circuiting.

‘Eliott. Bye!’ She plants a kiss on Lucas’ cheek before she leaves the foyer. Lucas stares after her, his skin prickling.

‘ _What_ just happened?’ Imane mutters, eyes narrowed.

Eliott chuckles and then lightly taps Lucas on the arm. ‘You coming?’

Lucas stays stock-still, mouth hanging open a little as Eliott draws a joint from behind his ear. He clears his throat and reanimates. ‘Yeah, okay.’

‘Bye, Imane!’ Eliott says sunnily, waving at her as he begins to stride across the room. Lucas barely stutters out a goodbye before he’s high-tailing after Eliott’s retreating figure.

They remain in silence until they reach the school gates, Lucas more out of shock than not wanting to talk. The school’s quiet due to classes having finished a while ago. Eliott pauses outside of the school's entrance and lights up, breathing deeply as he sucks on the roach. Lucas can’t help watching Eliott’s lips.

‘So, that was weird.’

Lucas lets out a surprised laugh. ‘Yeah, very weird.’ He watches as Eliott takes another drag and then hands him the spliff. He tilts his head in thanks and places it between his lips. He wonders if he’s imagining Eliott looking at his mouth. ‘Thanks, by the way.’

Eliott blinks, as if coming out of a daze and then cocks his head. ‘For what?’

Lucas rolls his eyes and breathes out a plume of smoke. ‘For saving me.’

Eliott titters and starts walking, Lucas following suit. ‘I didn’t realise you needed saving. Your look of pure panic didn’t clue me in _at all_.’

‘Hey, come on, I didn’t look _that_ traumatised,’ Lucas says with a smile.

Eliott scoffs and beams back at him. ‘I think I’ve seen people on the verge of death in horror movies look less scared than you did.’

‘Fuck off,’ Lucas laughs.

‘Who was she, anyway?’ Eliott asks after a beat of silence. ‘Why did you need saving?’

Lucas scratches the back of his neck, feeling awkward. He can’t even tell his best friends why he doesn’t want to be with Chloé (their mindset being _if a girl shows a shred of interest, you need to fuck her_ ). ‘Just this girl, Chloé. She… she stresses me out.’

Eliott’s brow crinkles. ‘Oh?’

‘She just seems super into me and… I don’t know…’ Lucas trails off and shrugs, gratefully accepting the almost-finished joint.

Eliott shoves his hands in his pockets and tips his head back a little. ‘You’re right, she does look _very_ into you.’

Lucas just groans and throws the smoked roach to the ground. ‘I guess I’ll have to deal with it at some point.’

‘If you ever need rescuing again, though, I’m here,’ Eliott says, smiling warmly. Lucas looks at him, a slight tension settling between them.

‘Thanks,’ he breathes. Eliott wiggles his eyebrows and then chuckles and Lucas is completely gone.

They come to a stop a few moments later, having arrived at the bus shelter. Eliott moves to scan the bus times. ‘I’m still not used to this route,’ he mumbles under his breath.

‘Do you live far?’ Lucas asks tentatively. Eliott spins back around on his heel.

‘Not far, no.’ They lock eyes again, air around them charged. Time becomes meaningless for a while, before the sound of the bus pulling up to the curb snaps them back to reality. ‘That’s my bus.’

Lucas swallows and nods minutely. ‘Well, thanks again.’

‘Anytime,’ Eliott replies with another brilliant grin. ‘See you at school?’

‘Yeah.’

Eliott places his hand on Lucas' arm and then brushes down the length of it before hurrying to catch his bus. Lucas’ skin feels like it’s on fire as he watches the vehicle pull away.

As he takes a seat and waits for his own bus to arrive, he realises it’s the longest he’s gone without thinking about his Timer in weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eliott 'subtlety' demaury is coming for lucas 'subtlety' lallemant's wig  
> [tumblr](http://cheloueliott.tumblr.com)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As soon as he gets the chance, Lucas sidles up to the pigeonholes outside the teacher’s lounge. He’s ashamed to admit it, but he scours through every third-year register. He’d assumed Eliott was a third year due to the fact that he’d spotted him hanging around with Alex earlier in the day and Lucas didn’t have any classes with him, he just didn’t know what category he was in.

**27 th January 11:53**

As soon as he gets the chance, Lucas sidles up to the pigeonholes outside the teacher’s lounge. He’s ashamed to admit it, but he scours through every third-year register. He’d assumed Eliott was a third year due to the fact that he’d spotted him hanging around with Alex earlier in the day and Lucas didn’t have any classes with him, he just didn’t know what category he was in.

Lucas was well aware he probably looked dumb as fuck picking up and putting away multiple notebooks, but it was worth it when he eventually found the name.

 _Eliott Demaury_.

After a weekend of fruitlessly scouring the internet for traces of Eliott, he _finally_ has a full name. He’ll be damned if he’s not going to throw himself into finding more about this boy even if it’s just to distract himself from all the soulmate bullshit.

Lucas settles himself at his desk in the science room, arriving to his lesson early for a change. He types _Eliott Demaury_ into his search bar and immediately finds a link to a short film Kickstarter project that didn’t meet the funding goal. His hands feel a little clammy as he clicks on the page and plays the video introducing the project, shoving his headphones into his ears.

‘ _So what’s Polaris about?_ ’ A deep voice from off camera asks.

Eliott beams as he explains. ‘ _Basically, it’s about someone who is afraid of the dark, and an unknown entity- man, woman, creature- hiding within the darkness, undiscovered. For me it represents finding your soulmate, and how the thought of stepping into the unknown is scary. But in the end, when you finally meet them at the border between known and unknown, you’re finally free to fall in love with the person who has the ability to know and understand you completely._ ’

Well, that was about the furthest thing from soulmate bullshit distraction. He huffs and delicately traces his fingertips over his blank wrist for what feels like the millionth time. He feels sad to his core when he thinks about it. Sad and plain confused. Eliott’s voice on the video melts into white noise as Lucas gets wrapped up in his own thoughts.

‘What’re you watching?’

Lucas practically leaps out of his skin as Imane appears behind him. He quickly locks his phone and rips out his ear buds. ‘Fuck, I didn’t know the school was haunted, you’re like a fucking ghost.’

Imane rolls her eyes and places her bag on the table top. ‘I was going to give you a present, but nope. If you’re going to be rude…’

‘A present?’ Lucas asks, tone disinterested as he flips through his textbook.

Imane clicks her tongue and shakes her head before folding her arms and staring at him expectantly. ‘So?’

‘What?’ he asks, on edge.

‘How’d it go with Eliott on Friday? You two seemed to hit it off.’ She smiles at him knowingly.

Lucas feels a lump form in his throat, and he looks away. ‘What do you mean?’

She shrugs and starts unpacking her bag. ‘Nothing. You just seemed to get on well, and you left in such a-‘

‘Alright, Imane, he was just saving me from Chloé. Nothing happened, enough with the third degree.’

She pauses and stares at him, taken aback by his defensiveness. ‘Woah, okay.’

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. ‘How do you know him anyway? Isn’t he new?’

‘He was- he’s friends with my brother.’ Imane avoids eye contact and places her bag on the hook under the desk.

Lucas bobs his head and turns his attention to his textbook, getting the vibe that neither of them really want to continue with the subject. Thankfully, Madame Rigaud begins the lesson and Lucas is able to switch off for a while. He makes the mistake of gazing out the window halfway through the lesson, making eye contact with Chloé. She’s stood outside with a small group of her friends and her face lights up when Lucas looks at her. She waves overenthusiastically and Lucas can barely build up the energy to lift his fingers in a tiny gesture back.

‘Mr. Lallemant, please pay attention,’ Madame Rigaud snaps, making him jump.

‘Sorry.’

He buries his head in his book and attempts to focus on the diagrams in front of him, pointedly ignoring Imane’s concerned gaze.

 

**30 th January 21:34**

He can’t help himself. No matter how sad it makes him feel about his own soulmate situation, he has to watch the rest of Eliott’s video. He’d excused himself from the living room where Mika, Lisa and himself had been watching a weird documentary on rodents and had made his way into his bedroom, burrowing under the covers.

His fingers feel at home as he types Eliott’s name into the search bar again. Although he’d like nothing more than to re-watch the entirety of the video again, he stops himself and drags his finger across the track pad, skipping to the place he got to before he zoned out earlier.

‘ _…you finally meet them at the border between known and unknown, you’re finally free to fall in love with the person who has the ability to know and understand you completely._ ’

‘ _It’s a love story, then?_ ’

‘ _Yes, the most important love story of all._ ’

Lucas gulps and he genuinely feels like he wants to cry. Fuck this.

‘ _Anyway, I have prepared a storyboard of the project that I really hope will intrigue you_.’

A soft piano piece floats out through his laptop speakers as the storyboard begins to appear on his screen. The music goes perfectly with what’s happening on screen, drawing some intense emotions out of Lucas. He’s torn between wanting to slam his laptop shut and wanting the images to never stop coming.

‘ _I hope this has made you feel like you want to be a part of the project, to support it and, well, me,_ ’ Eliott does a cute little shrug at this point, beaming. ‘ _Bye_!’

This time, Lucas does shut his laptop. His eyes gaze unseeingly at the wall opposite him for an unknown amount of time. A pinball machine filled with feelings he doesn’t want to deal with pings around inside him.

 

**31 st January 16:29**

Lucas is exhausted from his day. He’d forgotten a couple of his textbooks this morning due to him being more than a little distracted and had been told off multiple times. Then at lunch, Basile had spilled a whole can of Coke over his stomach and crotch. He can’t wait to get home so he can hide under his covers to avoid anything else happening to him.

As he sidles up to his bus stop, he catches a glimpse of a familiar tan jacket out of the corner of his eye. He stops and peers around the post, watching Eliott for a moment before gathering up all of his courage and deciding to go up to him. He doesn’t say anything, standing just off to the side of the other boy; he looks deep in thought, rubbing his fingers across his bottom lip and staring into the vending machine like it holds all the answers in the world but has put them all slightly out of order.

Eliott startles when he finally notices Lucas. ‘Shit, I didn’t see you there.’

Lucas smiles apologetically. ‘Sorry for scaring you… What’s up?’

‘I don’t know what to choose,’ Eliott says, resuming grazing his fingers over his bottom lip.

‘Number 24 is good.’

Eliott nods and immediately fishes out some change from his pocket, trusting Lucas’ judgement. The machine whirrs as it drops the snack. Eliott smiles to himself as he puts more change into the coin slot. Lucas watches on puzzled as the last granola bar in the row drops into the dispenser. He bends down briefly to retrieve the snacks and then holds out his arm. He shrugs and beams so wide his eyes crinkle. ‘For you.’

Lucas’ heart skips a beat and he slowly reaches out to accept the offered food. ‘Thank you.’

Eliott tips his head in the direction of the bus shelter and starts to make his way over. Lucas follows him, dazed. He’s pretty sure the granola bar is in pieces inside its wrapper from how tightly he’s gripping it. Trying to stick to unfortunate social norms, Lucas leaves a seat between them as he joins Eliott who seems to have placed all his focus into unwrapping his snack and taking a bite.

Eliott scrunches his face up. ‘It tastes weird.’

‘ _You’re_ weird,’ Lucas shoots back, defensive. Eliott laughs, slapping his hand over his mouth as he tries not to choke.

‘Why’s everything weird with you, huh?’

Lucas shakes his head, grinning to himself. ‘I didn’t really mean it, don’t worry. _But_ you insulted my favourite snack so obviously I’m offended.’

‘Mark my words, I’m going to design new packaging for these things. Will you help me pitch it to the company after I’m done?’

He chuckles and starts to open his snack, crumbs falling out onto his lap as he does so. ‘I’ll get started on the presentation as soon as I get home.’

‘We could work on it tomorrow night at my place, if you want,’ Eliott says casually before taking another bite.

Lucas mouth hangs open slightly as he stares at Eliott’s profile. ‘…Wait, are you serious?’

Eliott laughs and rolls his eyes. ‘Not about the pitch, no, but I _do_ have a huge crate of beer and some weed to smoke if you wanted to come over.’

Oh shit, his stomach’s fluttering with butterflies again. ‘That sounds… really nice, actually.’

‘Great!’ Eliott chirps. His head shoots up as his bus trundles down the street. ‘My bus is so much more punctual than yours.’ He crinkles his rubbish up and then stands. ‘I’ll meet you here after school, then?’

Lucas dips his head, unable to stop a happy grin from spreading across his lips. ‘Yep.’

‘Bye!’ Eliott throws over his shoulder before hopping on his bus. Lucas watches the bus pull away, a warm feeling pooling in his belly. Maybe his streak of bad luck is finally over. Just as the thought enters his head, the rest of his granola bar crumbles out of its packet and dumps itself over his legs. Maybe not quite, then.

 

**1 st February 12:36**

He’s walking through the courtyard with the boys, feeling lighter than he has in weeks, when Chloé appears in front of him with her friend from the party. He can practically hear Basile’s jaw hit the floor behind him.

‘Hey, Lucas,’ she greets happily, leaning forward to kiss his cheeks. The familiar crawling sensation spreads across his skin, originating from the places her lips touched.

‘Hi, Chloé,’ he replies, stiffly.

She swivels her head to glance at her friend for a moment before focusing back on him. ‘Me and Maria are having a little get together tonight. I know it’s short notice, but I was wondering if you wanted to come along too?’

There’s a quick succession of sharp jabs in his back, one of the guys poking him. At Lucas’ long silence, Chloé smiles awkwardly.

‘I think we’ll have enough alcohol. You guys are welcome to come as well!’ she addresses the boys.

‘We’d _love_ to c-‘

‘Actually, Chloé, I’m really sorry… I already made plans and I absolutely can’t cancel them.’ He hopes he sounds more apologetic than he feels, but he can’t really bring himself to give too much of a fuck.

He hears a short, strangled sound behind him which he assumes came from Basile. Chloé looks _devastated_ , avoiding Lucas’ eyes and instead looking forlornly at the floor. ‘Oh, that’s a shame.’

‘Sorry,’ he mumbles, scratching the back of his neck.

‘Well… if those plans fall through, I’ll send you the address so you know where to go,’ Chloé eventually says, cheering up. The girl doesn’t seem to be affected by anything, it’s kind of scaring Lucas if he’s honest.

‘Sure,’ he responds, dipping his head a little.

‘Bye, then,’ she says to the group. As she walks off, Lucas sees Maria wrap her arm around Chloé's shoulder comfortingly.

‘ _Dude_ ,’ Yann groans. Lucas rolls his eyes and shifts so he’s facing him.

‘What?’

‘If a girl invites you to a “little get together”, you fucking drop everything and go!’ Arthur declares, frustrated.

‘She’s stressing me out, guys, we’ve seen each other like three times and it’s like she’s obsessed with me,’ he grinds out.

‘That’s amazing, Lucas! Why the fuck aren’t you over there right now making out with her?’

‘Arthur, I-‘

‘Never mind, whatever. I just hope it’s a funeral you’re booked to go to tonight, because there’s literally no other excuse to not go.’

‘Wow, Mr Violent over here giving Basile a run for his money,’ Yann says, eyes bugging. Arthur slaps Yann’s chest with the back of his hand.

Basile, on the other hand, appears to have checked out, still staring in the direction the girls walked off. ‘I so could have banged Maria tonight… Fuck.’

 

**1 st February 16:07**

‘Right on time,’ Eliott says, face lighting up as Lucas comes into view. Something inside Lucas settles even though he hadn’t realised anything had been off with him. _The Eliott Effect_.

‘I assume your bus is going to arrive immediately, like usual.’ He quirks an eyebrow and takes a seat next to Eliott. This time he’s bold and doesn’t leave an empty chair barrier between them. He could be imagining Eliott’s pleased expression at the closeness, but he’d like to think he isn’t.

‘I’m predicting it’s going to be late because I bragged about it yesterday.’

Lucas snickers and then points at the approaching vehicle. ‘You’re wrong.’

Eliott follows the direction of Lucas’ finger. ‘Oh, so you’ve memorised the number of my bus, now?’

He rolls his eyes and nudges Eliott with his shoulder before standing up. He hopes his light blush goes unnoticed. ‘Duh, I had to know which bus I needed to complain about.’

‘Why would you complain?’

‘No form of public transportation has a right to actually show up on time, it’s not fair,’ Lucas says simply, following Eliott onto the bus.

They take their seats at the back, barely any space between them. The journey is only about ten minutes, but to Lucas it feels like an age. His entire left side is on fire from where Eliott’s pressed up against him and the space where his Timer was feels like it’s throbbing. For once, he doesn’t pay any mind to that particular sensation; his absence of a Timer can fuck off for at least one night, he figures.

Eliott’s building is right next to the bus stop and Lucas’ mouth has gone dry as Eliott unlocks the front door, beckoning Lucas to follow him up the stairs.

‘Make yourself at home,’ Eliott says cheerily as they enter the flat, throwing his keys into the bowl next to the door. Lucas cautiously makes his way further into the apartment, coming to a stop in the living room. He unwraps his scarf and lets his bag and coat drop unceremoniously to the floor.

Eliott appears, then, a case of beer balanced uncomfortably on his hip. Lucas shoots him a small smile and gratefully accepts the bottle Eliott hands him.

‘You weren’t kidding about the amount of beer you have, huh.’

‘Nope,’ Eliott sniggers.

Lucas studies the wall in front of him as Eliott moves to place the crate on the coffee table. A myriad of drawings are spread out over the expanse of the wall, woodland animals and various other doodles. He registers the piano next to him as well, a spark of longing shooting through him.

'Did you draw these?'

Eliott's head snaps up and he makes his way back over to where Lucas is standing. Seemingly without thinking, he clinks his bottle against Lucas'. 'Yeah. Those are fairly old, though. I like to think I'm better at drawing myself now.'

Lucas scrunches his eyebrows together. 'You think you're a badger?'

Eliott splutters in mock outrage. 'That's not a badger, that's a raccoon. You're breaking my heart, Lucas.'

A blush starts to make its way across his cheeks. 'A raccoon, right, sorry.'

'You should be. Raccoons are awesome. Plus, they wear masks.' Lucas watches as Eliott draws his fingers across his eyes with a grin on his face. He swallows and flicks his eyes to the wall and then back to Eliott.

'And me?' Eliott cocks his head slightly in question. 'How would you draw me?'

Eliott's lips part as he rakes his eyes over Lucas' face. Is he blushing as well? He's not sure. 'Hmm...' He sips his beer and tilts his head further. 'I'm not sure. I'd have to think about it.'

Eliott coughs as Lucas wags his eyebrows. 

Despite time having been such a plague on his existence as of late, the concept just seems to melt away when he’s around Eliott. His head is filled with Eliott’s blue-grey eyes and drawings of raccoons and his lips when he smokes.

Lucas ends up leaning his head back against the couch, eyes on Eliott who’s sitting too far away in the armchair opposite him. Without really thinking, Lucas begins murmuring about his parallel universe theory, sharing a funny story about a party he’d been to last year and relaying some of the ridiculous comments Basile has made in the past. The smoke’s settled in his lungs and goads him to keep talking. Eliott seems amused, offering little anecdotes of his own and paying rapt attention to every single thing Lucas says.

After a while, Lucas begins to run out of steam. Eliott takes the opportunity to get up and search through his vinyl collection. Lucas takes the time to observe the slope of Eliott’s broad shoulders as they move under his hoodie and his hands as he flips through his albums. When he feels like his staring’s become too much, he tears his gaze away and busies himself by taking a large gulp of beer and a desperate toke on the joint.

‘Ah!’ Eliott exclaims suddenly, holding up a slightly battered album.

‘Little bit of Chopin?’

Eliott levels Lucas with an offended look. ‘You really think I’m that bad at gauging this evening’s vibe?’

‘Oh, the _vibe_. If you’re using words like that, I’d say you’re about to put on some weird obscure artist who lives off cigarette fumes and black coffee.’ Eliott purses his lips and lifts his eyebrows. ‘ _No_.’

Eliott drops his façade and starts laughing, shaking his head. ‘No.’

Lucas mimes wiping sweat off his brow and sits back again, eyes following Eliott as he sets up the vinyl on the turntable. Lucas’ ears are assaulted when the music comes through the speakers. His eyes are attacked next as Eliott starts bouncing around in time with the beat, long arms flailing around and a ridiculously huge grin on his face. He hates to admit it, but he’s endeared beyond belief, which is what prompts his answer to Eliott, laughter drenched voices raised over the racket.

‘You hate it, right?!’

‘No, no! It’s cool!’

Eliott shakes his head, clearly not believing him. He goes to turn down the music to a more respectable volume and then returns to sit down. Lucas feels stupidly warm inside when Eliott elects to sit on the sofa next to him instead of in the armchair.

‘It beats Chopin, though,’ Eliott says eventually, accepting the joint off Lucas.

‘I like trying out new things,’ Lucas replies, tone weighted. Eliott’s eyes flash momentarily as he blows a smoke ring and Lucas thinks he should be bold more often just to see that look on Eliott’s face again.

 

**1 st February 19:34**

Lucas can’t help himself from dragging his eyes slowly up and down Eliott’s profile, taking in the shadow of his cheekbone and his heavily lidded eyes. The crackle of the record in the background is soothing in a strange way.

‘Fuck… I need to change the vinyl,’ Eliott says, voice syrupy and slow from the smoke.

He smiles, continuing his study of Eliott’s features. ‘You can’t be fucked to get up, can you?’

Eliott lets out a short laugh through his nose. ‘Absolutely… no motivation at all, no.’

Lucas rolls his eyes and pushes himself up from the couch, almost stumbling over; the beer and the weed’s really kicking in now. He makes his way carefully over to the turntable and lifts the needle up. His eyes are drawn to the piano for the second time that evening. He places the record gently on the side and bites his lower lip, contemplating.

‘Do you play?’

Lucas looks behind him in time to see Eliott wrap his lips around the roach of his joint. He’s mesmerised by the action, gaze zeroed in on Eliott’s mouth. Eliott expels a plume of smoke as he answers. ‘I can play the Star Wars theme… And my Für Elise cover is the best this side of Paris.’ Lucas chuckles and watches the slow smile appear on Eliott’s lips. ‘But no, not really.’

He’s not sure where these sudden bursts of confidence around Eliott are coming from, but he leaps at them when they appear. ‘Do you mind?’

Eliott’s eyebrows lift in surprise. ‘Go ahead.’

Lucas sits himself down at the bench and wiggles his fingers. He plays a couple of notes, recalling the memory of the piano piece. He barely registers Eliott’s light teasing behind him but he somehow manages to reply on autopilot, anyway.

The song flows out of him once he properly gets started, notes responding to his muscle memory and combining to produce the piece he’d learnt years before. It’s been so long since he’s played, but it still feels natural to him.

He chances a glance behind him at Eliott halfway through the song and the look on his face causes his breathing to cease for a moment. His eyes are full of a new kind of wonder Lucas has never seen directed at him before and he has to turn back to the piano. It’s almost too much to take in.

Three quarters of the way through the song, Lucas remembers the name of the piece. _I Love You_. He’s so fucked.

It’s so quiet when Lucas draws the song to a close, air crackling around him.

‘That was crazy,’ Eliott says, voice filled with fondness and awe.

‘It was no Star Wars, but…’ Lucas manages to croak out in response.

‘You’re surprising.’ Lucas heart stops for the millionth time since he’s met Eliott. ‘I like surprising people.’

The crackle morphs into a full on electrical storm around them, eyes on each other and pulses spiking.

The moment is broken by the noise of Eliott’s phone vibrating on the coffee table. The quiet sound almost knocks the wind out of Lucas and Eliott seems uncomfortable as he checks the caller ID and picks up the phone. He licks his lips and spares a glance at Lucas before he places the phone to his ear. ‘Yes? …Can it wait?’

He sighs and runs his hand through his tousled hair, his loose sleeve sliding down a bit to expose the pale skin of his forearm. Lucas shuffles a little on the piano bench.

‘Fine, fine, I’ll be right out. Bye,’ Eliott says with another sigh. He hangs up and starts flipping his phone over in his hands. ‘Lucas… I have to go.’

‘Is everything okay?’ he asks gently.

The corner of Eliott’s mouth pulls up as he looks at Lucas. ‘It should be.’

Lucas nods slowly before standing up. ‘I’ll get my stuff.’

Eliott gets up as well, expression torn. ‘I’ll… I’ll walk you out,’ he says eventually.

They gather their things in silence, but it’s not uncomfortable. They sneak small, intimate looks at each other and Lucas’ heart starts doing somersaults.

The door to the flat shuts quietly behind them and their shoulders brush as they make their way down the stairs. The air’s cool when they exit the apartment building, the gentle breeze ruffling Eliott’s already messy hair. They pause on the steps and glance at each other shyly. Lucas feels whole.

‘See you,’ Eliott says softly, eyes searching Lucas’.

‘Bye,’ he whispers. Eliott grins and unexpectedly runs his hand through Lucas’ hair before walking backwards, waiting until the last possible moment to break eye contact. Eliott turns around and Lucas notices a girl barrel towards him. He watches, dumbstruck, as Eliott pulls the girl into his arms and buries his face in her hair.

His wrist feels ice cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lucas called out my own music taste and i am n o t here for it.  
> so! this isn't thursday but i was super excited to post this and thought fuck it. i really hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> [tumblr](http://cheloueliott.tumblr.com)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas blinks slowly at his phone until it goes dark. He taps the home button and opens his Instagram. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised to see it confirmed that it’s Eliott, but what really shocks him is that Eliott is only following him and no one else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, my schedule's gone out the window...  
> *this won't make sense yet but* jzeush came up like joosh, jush, and zhuzh when i searched it. i do not know which is the correct spelling and at this point i’m too afraid to ask (and yet i left the word in there yikes)

**2 nd February 16:19**

**_srodulv_ ** _started following you._

Lucas blinks slowly at his phone until it goes dark. He taps the home button and opens his Instagram. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised to see it confirmed that it’s Eliott, but what really shocks him is that Eliott is only following him and no one else.

Carefully, Lucas scrolls through his page. His pulse speeds up when he sees the drawings. There’s no way Lucas could have mistaken them for anything other than recreations of moments they’d experienced together. And he’d still followed him. The latest post had been put up only a couple of hours ago; piano keys. _Surprising_. Lucas smiles to himself in spite of what he’d felt at the end of last night. His smile only widens when he sees the sketch for Eliott’s new granola bar wrapper design.

He doesn’t hesitate to follow him back.

Lucas has the sudden urge to ask about Eliott’s Timer, but he knows he’d never actually do it. He’s obviously acknowledged his attraction to Eliott, but an uncomfortable thought begins to lodge itself in his brain. He’s been through the emotional ringer of the past few weeks and his situation isn’t exactly normal, so he doesn’t think it’s crazy to assume _anything_ at this point. Lucas gets up off the couch and makes his way into his bedroom to retrieve his laptop.

 

_Search: can gay guys have soulmates?_

_20,339 results_

 

**_All my straight friends have Timers, but I’ve never had one (I know I’m gay, but I’m closeted). I don’t want to tell anyone yet and I haven’t really brought up my Timer situation with any of my current group of friends. Is anyone else experiencing this? Is not having a Timer just a gay thing maybe? Sorry, I’m a bit drunk and just overthinking, dunno if this makes sense._ **

  * _I’m gay and I have a Timer, I really don’t think your sexuality is the reason for not having one._
  * _i’d get more drunk and find my nearest beard if i were u_
  * _i’m bi and don’t have a timer, i’ve had thoughts like this too. it’s difficult to deal with, but i think talking to someone you trust will help_



 

Lucas’ emotions tangle into a confused knot. He feels a little relieved, a little sick thinking about the idea of faking things for longer than necessary with Chloé (if she’s even still interested at this point from how many times he’s dismissed her), and a little tempted to reach out.

 

**3 rd February 13:12**

‘Hey,’ Lucas greets Yann as he opens the door.

‘I brought pizza,’ Yann announces, grinning. Lucas smirks and prods him playfully.

‘Okay, you can definitely come in.’

Yann hands the box to Lucas while he shrugs off his jacket.

‘You feeling any better?’ Yann asks as he makes his way into the living room and settles down on the couch. Lucas turns on the game console before joining him. He knows he’s outwardly appeared a lot calmer since meeting Eliott, but his best friend knows him well.

‘Uh… You were right before. I’m not sleeping well,’ he replies cautiously. He knows there’s no way he’s telling Yann the full story- yet, at least, he’s definitely not ready for that- but he also knows he’s not dumb and won’t settle for another _I’m fine_.

‘Yeah? That’s shit.’ Lucas just lets out a small chuckle in response. ‘Now I’m already feeling bad about how I’m gonna beat you seeing as you’re not on top form.’

‘Oh yeah? Who says I’m not gonna win?’

‘Many, _many_ past experiences playing you at this game,’ Yann replies, bumping his arm as he picks up his controller.

‘We’ll see,’ Lucas says, grinning. ‘So, you’re Peach, right?’

At the lack of immediate response, Lucas frowns and turns his gaze to his friend. Yann’s staring directly at the inside of Lucas’ exposed left wrist with wide eyes and a huge smile. Fuck. He’d been doing so well.

‘Uh-‘

‘You met your soulmate?’ Yann cuts in excitedly. ‘Wait… is it _Chloé_?’

No, Lucas won’t cry, that’s definitely not going to happen. He swallows around the lump in his throat and places his controller on the coffee table. He turns to face Yann more fully on the couch and then looks down, hands fidgeting.

‘No.’

When he looks back up, Yann has a confused expression on his face. Lucas really didn’t expect to have this conversation today. He never wanted to have it, really.

‘It just… went away last month.’

‘Last _month_? What do you mean it just went away?’

Fuck, why was this so difficult to talk about? And he hadn’t been prepared for the topic to come up without him initiating it himself anyway; they’d never really spoken to each other about this sort of thing. They’d acknowledged that Lucas was going to meet his soulmate before Yann would, but that had been about it- nothing specific.

‘I don’t know. And it was just over a week before it was actually supposed to run out…’ Yann keeps staring at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He bites his lip and swallows again. ‘I didn’t meet anyone new, Yann.’

Lucas can hear the emotion in his own voice and can feel the prickle of tears in his eyes.

‘Shit…’ Yann breathes out. Gently, he places his hand on Lucas’ shoulder and rubs.

There’s no more putting it off, he’s got to deal with it. A tear spills down his cheek as he says, ‘I tried to look it up, and someone said that…’ He coughs lightly and wipes at his face, trying to use Yann’s touch to ground himself a bit. ‘They said that it could mean your soulmate’s dead.’

‘ _Shit_ ,’ Yann says again. ‘Lucas, why didn’t you tell me?’

‘I didn’t want to deal with it, I think.’

Yann nods and looks down. ‘I mean… It doesn’t _have_ to mean that, does it?’ he eventually suggests hopefully.

‘But what if it does?’ Lucas replies hoarsely.

_What if it does?_

 

**4 th February 08:46**

Yann shoots him a sympathetic look as Lucas approaches the gang. He can only muster up a tiny answering smile in return. If this is the kind of reaction he’s got from sharing his soulmate turmoil, he’s definitely going to have to mentally prepare a lot more before he’s ready to come out… _if_ that ever happens.

‘Hey, guys,’ Lucas greets them, giving Arthur and Yann fist bumps but ignoring Basile. He’s got to admit that keeping up with the running joke makes him feel a little better.

He spots Chloé chatting to Maria at the other end of the courtyard. The post he’d read the other day runs through his head and he debates going over to her to smooth things over. _Just fake it so no one gets suspicious,_ his brain yells, but he silences it. He can’t deal with that today; he needs more time to think about what he’s logically going to do moving forward.

‘I sent Daphné a text about the common room,’ Basile says excitedly, glancing around at each of them.

‘What? How the fuck did you get her number?’ Arthur asks, confused.

Basile reddens considerably. ‘Well, I…’

‘Let me guess, you messaged her on Instagram and she blocked you. Now you’re just trying to look like you have game in front of us, pretending you scored her number.’ Arthur says succinctly, eyebrows raised as he regards Basile.

‘ _Oof_ ,’ Lucas draws out, laughing at Basile’s shocked expression. His laughter’s soon cut off, however, at the sound of a very familiar voice behind him.

‘Hey.’

Lucas startles and swivels around. Eliott’s smiling softly, head angled as he looks at Lucas. Lucas feels like he might melt until he remembers where they are and who they’re with.

‘…Hi,’ he replies warily.

Eliott holds his arm out. ‘You forgot this on Friday.’

Lucas stares at the scarf in Eliott’s hand, unable to speak. So how’s he going to explain his way out of this one, then?

‘I thought you were at a funeral on Friday,’ Arthur whispers close to Lucas’ ear. He ignores him.

‘Oh, that’s mine! I was wondering where that went, where did you find it?’ Yann asks, taking the scarf off Eliott and lovingly wrapping it around his hands.

‘We met at a granola bar packaging protest. He got a little too enthusiastic swinging the scarf around and dropped it, but I managed to rescue it from being trampled,’ Eliott says seriously, gesturing at Lucas as he speaks. Lucas can’t help the small smile that tugs at the corner of his mouth at the inside joke. He’s fucking terrified that the object of his affections is standing in front of him and his friends, but he’s still endeared.

‘Uh…’ Yann starts.

Eliott beams then, delighting at the various range of expressions across the boys’ faces. ‘I’m joking.’

‘I left it in the common room, right?’ Lucas speaks quickly before Eliott can say anything else. The words scrape against his throat as he forces them out. But he has to. If he can’t bring himself to go up to Chloé right now, he at least has to put a stop to this. ‘Thanks, dude.’

Something in Eliott’s expression shatters but he recovers quickly, challenge in his eyes. ‘No problem, _dude_.’

Lucas has absolutely fucked it. Eliott’s eyes become blank as he says goodbye and strolls off into the Literature building.

‘He seems nice. A little weird, but nice,’ Yann says, winding his scarf around his neck. ‘Who was he?’

‘No one,’ Lucas replies instantly, voice coming out slightly choked. The guys are looking at him strangely, so he attempts to elaborate. ‘I think he’s new. He didn’t know anyone, so he just started talking to me the other day…’

‘I feel for him starting at a new school, it sucks. He probably just wants a friend,’ Arthur says.

‘Yeah, or he’s a stalker. I mean, how did he know that was my- Yann’s scarf.’

Yann’s eyebrows are raised as he stares at Lucas and Arthur’s frowning. Lucas feels so worked up he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He keeps shooting looks towards the door Eliott disappeared through, silently begging Eliott to come back so he can apologise. No matter Lucas’ hurt feelings, he shouldn’t have been so dismissive after the lovely night they’d had on Friday.

‘Okay…’ Yann whistles eventually.

Lucas has most definitely fucked it.

 

**5 th February 10:45**

A note flutters out of Lucas’ locker when he opens it to grab some extra books between classes. Lucas furrows his brow and bends to pick it up. When he unfolds the paper and looks at the contents, his heart skips a beat.

It’s a drawing of a raccoon and a hedgehog, arms slung over each other’s shoulders and huge grins on their faces. Below the animals, Eliott’s written in neat capitals:

_Eliott and Lucas: The Best of Mecs_

_Coming soon to a theatre near you_

He feels like an idiot, cheeks heating, but he manages to laugh at himself anyway. ‘ _Thanks, dude_.’

Lucas squeezes his eyes shut, shaking his head at himself, before folding the note back up and carefully placing it in the inside pocket of his backpack so it won’t get wrinkled. _Eliott’s thinking of him._

He ponders when Eliott had put the drawing in his locker and when he’d figured out how he’d draw Lucas. The smile stays on his face for the rest of the day.

 

**8 th February 19:36**

Throughout the week, Lucas’ phone had been pinging with notifications about a secret party Daphné was hosting in the common room tonight. He’s surprised he’s been invited considering he’d bailed on the last meeting. It’s all the guys have been talking about, but Lucas has been far more concerned over the fact he hasn’t seen Eliott since Monday, nor gained any new additions to his extremely sparse collection of Eliott’s drawings.

He’s typed out a few texts, poised to send them but had chickened out at last minute. There’s so much he wants to say ( _I’m sorry I was so blunt on Monday/thank you for the drawing, it made me smile/I miss you/was that girl your girlfriend?_ ), but he bottles it every time he’s about to press send.

He sighs as he stares at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, painting stripes on his cheeks with Mika’s body paint. He looks at his exposed left wrist for a while before gathering more paint on his fingertips and dragging them across the place where his Timer should be. Lucas doesn’t want to chance getting too drunk and accidentally exposing his status to anyone else if he takes his hoodie off. He doesn’t want a repeat of the night with Chloé.

Mika pops his head around the bathroom door then and Lucas hurries to pull his sleeve back down, moving to fix his hair instead.

‘Lucas? The guys are here… Am I drunk or has Basile turned into a turtle?’

Lucas frowns in confusion and catches Mika’s eye in the mirror. Mika smiles and then makes his way over to him, fluffing up his hair. Lucas attempts to slap his hands away but to no avail.

‘Mika, seriously, you’re gonna mess it up.’

‘Nonsense, kitten! You need to jzeush it up a little if you’re hoping to pull tonight.’ Lucas swats at his hands again and this time Mika relents, smirking. ‘Fine, fine. You look good, though.’

‘Shut up,’ Lucas groans, cheeks warming. He pushes past his flatmate and goes to meet the boys in the living room. He nearly busts a lung laughing when he sees Basile. Clearly he hadn’t interpreted the dress code correctly.

‘I tried to tell him,’ Yann sighs, shaking his head.

‘Daphné’s gonna love it,’ Arthur assures Basile, seemingly back on Basile’s side with his crusade to win the blonde’s heart.

‘Maybe she’ll be dressed like me, or like another animal or something and we can do a bit of roleplay,’ Basile replies, beaming and nodding his head sleazily.

Arthur retches a little. ‘Now you just sound like a fucking furry and I immediately regret defending your choices. Come on, let’s just go.’

Outside it’s cold but not unbearable, and the small bottle of vodka the boys pass between them as they walk to the school helps warm them. They dump the empty bottle in a bin before they integrate into the large crowd of students gathered around the school gates.

‘No fucking way!’ Basile practically squeals.

‘Jeez, Baz, what?’ Arthur grumbles, holding his hands dramatically over his ears. Basile wiggles his finger in eagerness as he points to the front of the crowd.

‘What did I tell you? _Roleplay_! Daphné’s dressed up as a _cat_!’

Lucas rolls his eyes and then facepalms. When he removes his hand, he just looks between Yann and Arthur with a long-suffering stare. ‘We’re not letting him talk to her, right?’

‘Absolutely not.’

‘I’ll handcuff him to the gate if I have to.’

Lucas nods, satisfied, and turns back to face the school gates. Excitement crackles in the air as they chant and watch Alexia climb over the railing. The crowd bursts into cheers when the gate swings open and they hurriedly make their way onto the school premises.

The foyer looks completely different, UV paint covered sheets hanging against the walls and glow sticks scattered everywhere. He has to admit that the girls did a great job; in his opinion, though, Daphné’s music taste doesn’t quite cut it. The frankly offensive mural is still unfortunately on display as well.

The boys eventually find themselves hanging out at the drinks table, chatting and searching for somewhat drinkable alcohol.

‘Hey guys!’ Daphné squeals, drawing the three of them (minus Basile) into a tight hug. ‘Are you having a good time?’ she asks, suddenly serious, eyes intense. Lucas gets whiplash just from looking at the rapid change of her expressions.

‘Yeah, Daphy, it’s really cool.’ Lucas attempts to sound as enthusiastic as possible, but he’s not sure if he succeeds.

‘That mural really is fuck ugly, Daphné,’ Arthur says, gesturing to said wall and wrinkling his nose.

She hits him in the side with her false cat tail and grumbles. ‘I know, okay, I’m going to try and sort something out.’

‘If you need help painting it, I’d be happy to do it.’

Lucas starts and turns around at the sound of his voice. And, yeah, maybe his heart breaks just a little bit when he sees Eliott’s arm draped over the girl from the other night’s shoulders, but he’s not going to admit it. To make himself feel better, his brain replaces the image in front of him with a familiar raccoon and a hedgehog.

Eliott’s eyebrows jump cockily as he makes eye contact with Lucas. His gaze appears even more powerful due to the fact that he’s wearing a black mask that partially covers his face, eyes the only features visible. ‘Hey, dude.’

Before Lucas can reply or even react in any way, Daphné’s rushing up to Eliott and grabbing his upper arms, kissing him roughly on both cheeks. ‘Eliott, thank you so, so much!’

‘It’s no problem,’ Eliott replies cheerily. ‘I’ll message you about it tomorrow.’ He returns his stare to Lucas and tilts his chin up. ‘Bye, dude.’

Lucas swallows heavily as Eliott brushes past him and dissolves into the crowd with the girl. He can’t believe how passive aggressive and salty Eliott’s being over one word, but Lucas has to admit he’s finding it kind of amusing underneath his own embarrassment. Daphné sighs dreamily.

‘Ah, isn’t he just perfect?’ Lucas faintly hears the sound of Basile’s heart shattering into a thousand pieces. ‘Whoever that girl is, she’s so _lucky_.’ Lucas’ heart promptly joins Basile’s in scattering itself across the common room floor.

‘He’s so mysterious,’ Arthur says thoughtfully, eyes on Eliott’s retreating back.

Yann just shrugs. ‘He gave me my scarf back so he’s good in my book.’

‘That’s it, I’m writing an epic love story based on you and your fucking scarf,’ Lucas hears Arthur laugh as they lumber towards the dancefloor. He remains by the drinks table and spots Imane a little further down. He bites his lip for a moment before walking over to her.

‘Imane,’ he says nervously, tapping her on the shoulder. She spins around, eyebrows raised on the defence before her face melts into a relaxed smile.

‘Hey, Lucas. Everything okay?’

Lucas tugs at his hoodie sleeves, building up the courage to speak. ‘Um… I was just wondering… Uh… Who’s that with Eliott?’ Imane’s brows draw together as she regards him. He begins to stutter under the scrutiny. ‘I mean, I just don’t want to look rude not… knowing who… she is? If I have to talk to her?’

Imane smirks then, folding her arms with her hip jutting out to the side. ‘Right… I wouldn’t want you to feel awkward or anything.’

He can tell she’s taking the piss out of him, but he’s glad she’s not explicitly acknowledging how dumb his excuse for digging was.

‘That’s Lucille. Lot of history there that I don’t think I should really get into.’ Imane’s gaze flicks to the corner of the room where Eliott and Lucille are dancing. They’re a little too close if Lucas is being honest.

Okay. Brilliant. Lucille. Obviously Eliott’s _girlfriend_.

Lucas stares at them for a minute before he accidentally catches Chloé’s eye. Come to think of it, she’s been glancing over at him longingly all night. He smiles at her because he doesn’t want to _completely_ alienate her, but he’s pretty sure the expression comes out more like he’s constipated.

‘Drink?’ Imane asks, offering him a plastic cup filled with syrupy pink liquid. He nods a little too fervently and immediately gulps half of it down.

‘ _Jesus_ ,’ Lucas splutters, scrunching his entire face up. Imane laughs at him and nudges him with her shoulder.

‘Too strong for you, Lulu?’

He ignores the nickname and shudders. ‘Did fucking _Satan_ mix this?’

Imane pats him on the back. ‘I heard it was lovingly collected from the finest sewers in Paris. A perfect distilled vintage.’ She smirks at him again and then moves to join Daphné on the dancefloor. Lucas sighs into his cup and decides to just down the rest of it. He’s going to need the alcohol if the entire night is just going to be comprised of him accidentally making eye contact with Eliott and Chloé.

He refills his drink despite the burn at the back of his throat and goes to join the gang. Their limbs are fluid, dancing terribly, but he feels himself start to cheer up a little bit. The alcohol blends with his bloodstream and coaxes out some purely horrendous dance moves.

‘Lucas, that’s the rustiest robot I’ve ever seen!’ Yann yells at him over the music.

‘Says the guy _waltzing_ to Post Malone,’ Lucas scoffs. Yann holds his arms out unapologetically. Just as he’s about to be dragged into a slow dance against his will, someone calls his name.

‘Hey, Lucas!’

Wow, he’s really going to leap out of his skin every time she approaches him, huh. ‘Chloé, hey.’

She tips her head in the direction of the drinks table. He licks his lips anxiously, remembering that the guys are watching him so he might as well just follow her and get this over with. While he’s there, he decides to top-up his drink again. After the first couple, it’s not actually that bad.

‘So I was speaking with Lucille and Eliott.’

 _Shit_ , what’s this got to do with him, though? ‘Oh yeah?’

She nods and smiles, lips pressed together tightly. ‘Lucille’s lovely, we really got on well.’

Clearly Lucille is owed a medal for being the Most Spectacular Charming Human Alive and Lucas isn’t at all bitter about it. ‘That’s… nice.’ He’s not really sure what else to say and his alcohol clouded brain isn’t going to be coming to the rescue any time soon.

‘She invited me over next Friday night. To Eliott’s apartment? I said I’d ask if you wanted to come along too... Sort of make it a double date!’ She sounds a little nervous once she reaches the end of her sentence.

Lucas’ eyes practically bug out of his head. A _double date_ at the very same flat Lucas spent the night at with Eliott last week, with Eliott’s _girlfriend_ and the girl who was desperately trying to couple up with Lucas himself. The concept is completely fucked… But if Eliott’s going to be there (and if he’d agreed to it) Lucas is definitely going to be there too.

‘That’s sounds cool.’ Lucas almost laughs at the comically shocked expression on Chloé’s face.

‘Wait, really? You’d come?’ A tentative grin breaks out on her face and Lucas does feel guilty at how hopeful she sounds, but not guilty enough to stop himself.

He bobs his head and takes a huge gulp of his drink, barely refraining from choking. ‘Yeah, I-‘

Suddenly, all of the lights come on and the music cuts out. Daphné’s yelling about the night guard arriving, throwing her arms around in all directions trying to push people out of the door. Lucas sees Eliott laughing at the spectacle in the opposite corner of the room, hand on Lucille’s shoulder. It feels like a rock’s settled in his stomach.

He snaps out of it quickly, joining the rush of students and thankfully losing Chloé in the process. It’s kind of exhilarating, the cool air biting his skin as he runs out of the school with his classmates. He ends up pausing in the middle of the street, though, blue eyes on his mind again.

Lucas’ eyes search for Eliott among the crowd of sprinting teenagers, but he can’t see him anywhere. He lets out a long sigh and continues jogging. He changes his course and ends up leaning against a wall of little windows when he’s far enough away from the school gates. He’s breathing heavily when he digs his phone out of his pocket and opens up Instagram, finally doing what he’s been meaning to do all week.

 **@lucallemant:** _so I’m a hedgehog, then?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what’s up with this lucille gal huh  
> i promise i’ve adapted canon a lil bit for a reason and i also promise good things for the next chapter!  
> [tumblr](http://cheloueliott.tumblr.com)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There it is. He’s endlessly thankful Yann’s looking out for him but reaching out in a way that’s not completely obvious that it’s about Lucas’ soulmate situation. He doesn’t feel smothered or like he’s fragile, which he didn’t expect. He’d been really worried about the prospect of that happening from the looks Yann had been giving him over the course of the week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for the wait!

**9 th February 11:02 **

**Yann:** _hey did you get home okay? tried to find you in the crowd but couldn’t see you anywhere. some of those fuckers are FAST btw_

Lucas smiles at his phone and types out a response.

 **Lucas:** _yeah, everything’s good :)_

 **Yann:** _great. so… how’d it go with chloe ;)_

Lucas isn’t quite sure what Yann’s getting at here considering their conversation the week before, but he sighs and decides to tell the truth.

 **Lucas:** _i think i have a double date set up with her, eliott and his girlfriend lucille on friday…_

The very same Eliott who hadn’t replied to his message yet. Nope, he’s not going to think about it.

 **Yann:** _lmao what the fuck_

 **Yann:** _you’ve gotta let me know how that goes_

 **Yann:** _how do you get yourself into these situations lulu_

He’s wondering the same thing. He puffs out a breath and closes his eyes, letting his phone fall onto his bare chest. He’s still basically half-asleep; it was a miracle he’d even been able to type anything coherent back to Yann. Lucas had actually got a semi-decent night’s sleep for a change, the amount of alcohol he’d consumed helping him snooze more easily.

His phone buzzes one more time.

 **Yann:** _btw i’m always here if the date gets too much... me and my scarf will come rescue you_

There it is. He’s endlessly thankful Yann’s looking out for him but reaching out in a way that’s not completely obvious that it’s about Lucas’ soulmate situation. He doesn’t feel smothered or like he’s fragile, which he didn’t expect. He’d been really worried about the prospect of that happening from the looks Yann had been giving him over the course of the week.

 **Lucas:** _thank you, yann. really._

 **Yann:** _any time :)_

Lucas reads back through their conversation, grinning. Despite his hangover, he actually feels really good. Until, of course, Mika decides to virtually break his door down with the power of his knocking.

‘Lucas! Flat meeting, pronto! Get your lazy ass out of bed!’

Lucas groans loudly. ‘It’s a fucking _Saturday_ , Mika!’ he yells back before slamming his pillow over his own face. Suddenly, the door bursts open and the cushion is being torn away from his face.

‘It’s compulsory,’ Mika says simply, hitting Lucas’ torso repeatedly with the pillow.

‘You’re the worst,’ he growls, relenting and hauling himself out of bed.

‘Just wait until you see what the meeting’s about.’

Lucas frowns at him before he pulls a grey hoodie over his head. Mika practically skips out of the room and Lucas drags his feet after him. As he gets closer to the living room, he hears a very familiar voice speaking in hushed tones. It’s only strange because this time he’s hearing it without the crackle of a phone speaker.

‘Manon?’ he says incredulously when he lays eyes on her.

She smiles awkwardly and glances between Mika and Lisa before finally looking at Lucas.

‘Hey.’

Her voice sounds a bit cracked and she seems tired.

‘What are you doing here?’ It comes out a bit more blunt than he intended- he’s blaming his hangover- and a short flash of hurt appears across Manon’s features before she schools them.

‘I missed you guys,’ she replies, shrugging.

Mika leaps up from the arm chair and rugby tackles Manon where she’s sat on the sofa. ‘We missed you too,’ he squeals into her shirt.

Lucas cautiously makes his way further into the lounge and takes Mika’s now unoccupied seat in the arm chair. Lisa dips her head in the direction of the coffee table where a steaming mug with Lucas’ name on it sits. He smiles gratefully and instantly gulps down half the contents.

‘How was London?’ he asks when his mouth recovers from downing the hot liquid.

Manon shrugs again and runs a hand through her hair. ‘It was… lovely. I saw a lot of the typical tourist things, you know.’

‘She held a _Royal baby_ , Lucas,’ Mika says as he fawns over Manon’s hair, twirling the strands between his fingers.

‘I did not,’ she scoffs, batting Mika’s hand away. Lisa resumes Mika’s movements but on the other side of Manon’s head. Lucas smiles at them and takes a smaller sip of his coffee. ‘Anyway, yes, it was nice, but I’m _here_ now.’

Lucas scrunches his eyebrows together at her eagerness to get off the subject. He decides to help her out a bit and clears his throat. ‘So where will you be staying?’

Mika glares at him. ‘Here, obviously. The original flat share have reunited!’

Oh. Lucas can already see where this is going. He can only imagine the embarrassment of having his consistent late rent payments being brought up in order to get him to comply will cause. He decides to bite the bullet and wait to regret saying anything later. ‘Would you need to stay in my room?’

Manon looks over at him, shock written all over her face. ‘No, Lucas, don’t be silly, it’s your room. I’ll take the couch. It’ll only be for a few weeks, anyway…’

Mika rolls his eyes. ‘Of course you’re not taking the couch. You need your beauty sleep, you’re looking a little ragged as well, darling. Futons don’t breed beauty queens.’

‘Lucas clearly needs his beauty sleep, too. Look at him,’ Lisa pipes up, gesturing in his direction.

‘Thanks, Lisa,’ Lucas grumbles, shaking his head.

‘Honestly, it’s Lucas’ room. He’s paying rent.’

Lucas dives in quickly as he spots Mika’s eyebrows rising and his mouth beginning to open, already anticipating what would come out if he were to say anything. ‘Okay, how about we take it in turns? I move to the couch this week and you take it next week?’

Mika narrows his eyes at Lucas suspiciously while Manon looks at him gratefully. ‘That sounds like a good compromise.’

‘Sounds like a lot of hassle,’ Mika says under his breath. He claps his hands twice and then shoots up off the sofa. ‘But, fine, I’ll agree to it. Let’s celebrate!’

Lucas peers into the depths of his coffee mug and can already feel the regret creeping up his spine. Sure, he likes Manon and it’s as good a compromise as they’re going to get, but he thinks he’s going to desperately need to have his own space considering what he’s dealing with at the moment.

When he meets Manon’s eyes again, she looks apologetic. He feels a little bit of his unhappiness at the situation melt away.

 

**10 th February 17:37**

Lucas is helping Manon finish up making dinner, fitting seamlessly back into the flat dynamic, when his phone buzzes in his pocket.

 **srodulv:** _is my hedgehog up for a bit of painting?_

Lucas stares at his phone for a solid five minutes and his cheeks hurt from grinning. _My_ hedgehog. All that anxiousness waiting so long for a reply and then he’d received  _that_. Lucas is whipped.

‘You better hope the wind doesn’t change.’

Lucas snaps his head up; he’d almost forgotten Manon was in the room. She sends him a meaningful smirk as she drains the pasta in the sink. He clears his throat and tries to relax his maniacal smile a little.

‘What do you mean?’

She titters and shakes her head, returning her full attention to the meal prep.

 **lucallemant:** _the mural?_

 **srodulv:** _i mean i’m a decent decorator, but every artist needs an apprentice_

Lucas rolls his eyes before tapping out another reply.

 **lucallemant:** _ha, very funny_

 **lucallemant:** _i’m up for it. when?_

 **srodulv:** _i need to ask daphné when she wants me, but i’ll text you the details as soon as i know_

Lucas phone vibrates again as a number comes through. A traitorous horde of butterflies start to flutter around in his stomach.

 **lucallemant:** _great :)_

 **srodulv:** _i can’t wait :)_

He can’t help but let his grin return at full force as he enters Eliott’s number into his contacts.

 

**13 th February 13:43**

**Lucas:** _i’m here!_

 **Lucas:** _my eyes are burning having to look at this fucking wall_

 **Lucas:** _hey, are you coming?_

The texts were all sent about ten minutes apart and here he was, still sat in the foyer on his own. He nibbles at his bottom lip and accepts the sinking feeling that’s starting to creep up on him; Eliott’s not coming.

His heart soars as the door opens but it immediately makes a crash landing when he realises it’s just the girls. They’re all laughing and joking amongst each other, ecstatic to have Manon back, and it just highlights Lucas’ melancholy mood.

Daphné stops in front of the mural and squints at it. ‘Uh, Lucas?’

‘Hm?’

‘It’s still hideous,’ Alexia supplies for her, pressing her lips together to try and hide an amused smile.

Lucas rolls his eyes and stands up from where he’d been sat on an unopened can of paint. ‘Yeah, well, I guess Eliott couldn’t make it. He’s the artist, remember.’ _And I’m his dumbass of an apprentice._

Daphné blinks at him slowly, watching him roughly shrug on his jacket. ‘Um, Lucas-‘

‘Look, I’ve got to go, okay? If you see Eliott, tell him… I don’t know, just say he should let me know next time he wants to bail.’

He’s not sure why he’s being _so_ outwardly irritated. Maybe he just feels embarrassed for getting his hopes up. The thing is, though, Eliott had set this whole thing up and caused Lucas to hope. He can feel the girls’ eyes on him as he rushes out of the room.

‘Lucas!’ He’s halfway down the corridor when Manon calls him. He slowly turns to her and sighs, not wanting to discuss anything at the moment.

‘Hey, Manon, what’s up?’

She walks cautiously towards him as if approaching a frightened woodland animal. Maybe a hedgehog. He internally chastises himself for even thinking that.

‘Is everything okay?’

Out of nowhere, just from an ordinary question, he’s about ready to blurt everything he’s had on his chest for the last month or so when he sees Chloé down the hall. He snaps out of it. No, he won’t do this now.

‘Uh, sorry, I have to go talk to my girlfriend about something,’ he stutters out, the words not fitting together correctly in his mouth; he knows how awkward he sounds.

Manon’s eyebrows practically hit her hairline. ‘Your… your _girlfriend_?’

Lucas purses his lips and nods, watching with unease as Chloé spots him and approaches. She plants a huge kiss on his lips in greeting and Lucas is entirely too aware that he forgot to close his eyes as she did it, eye contact still held with Manon.

He watches Manon’s expression shift into something more sad than anything else and it makes his stomach drop. She nods unhappily and then turns around to walk the other way without another word. Lucas tries his hardest to ignore the churn in his stomach and to focus on Chloé’s babbling about their upcoming date night, but after a while he figures he’s probably understood about two words.

 

**14 th February 02:27**

The sound of the television isn’t helping him sleep, but he needs a distraction desperately. His mind keeps running through possible excuses as to why Eliott hadn’t shown up and his fingers have been drawing sad circles on his blank wrist without him realising.

He’s just debating slamming his head against the wall to knock himself out when he hears the floorboards creak. Manon’s standing at the living room’s threshold, hugging herself and swamped in a huge sweater. He immediately notices the tear tracks on her cheeks and sits up.

‘Manon?’ he whispers, eyes filled with concern.

She drags her feet as she walks to the couch and slumps down next to him. He flings the duvet over the top of her legs and turns to her.

‘Lucas…’ she starts, voice tear choked.

Lucas feels his heart break a little. He draws her in for a one-armed hug which she immediately accepts, body deflating against his.

‘We don’t have to talk about it,’ he says hoarsely, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her arm.

She takes in a shaky breath and then buries her face further into his chest. ‘Distract me.’

He finds he rambles when asked. He doesn’t expect nor really want any sort of response out of Manon, but he tells her everything in the hope that his entire pitiful situation will distract her from whatever’s making her feel like this. A shitty cop show plays in the background as the soundtrack to his sob story. She readily listens and he feels her wince at some of the information about his enigma of a soulmate.

They both cry enough to make the Seine overflow, but, in the end, he feels freer than he has in weeks.

 

**14 th February 12:13**

This morning he’d walked with Manon through the school gates and they had smiled at each other knowingly. He’d felt their friendship physically strengthen as she grabbed his hand and squeezed it before they’d parted ways to go to class.

The light feeling in his chest from confessing everything to Manon had lasted until midday where he now finds himself, gaping down at another note that had been placed in his locker at some previous undetermined time.

_Eliott no.90,125 and Lucas no.3,452: More Than Mecs?_

_I’m so sorry, I promise I’ll make it up to you tomorrow night._

He stares at the note in his hand, at the neat writing and the raccoon and the hedgehog smiling. They’re holding hands with a heart above their heads.

This is a _bold_ move on Eliott’s part, and he’s making it increasingly difficult for Lucas to misinterpret the signs. A drawing like this put in Lucas’ locker on Valentine’s Day that incorporates an almost throwaway comment Lucas had made about parallel universes two weeks ago?

Lucas is really trying not to get his hopes up, but he’s not an idiot.

He sighs and places the drawing in his bag in the same compartment as the previous one. He can’t quite explain it, but he does feel calmer having the drawings on him, despite the confused knot of feelings they bring out of him.

After he’s closed his locker, someone wraps their arms around his waist from behind and kisses his cheek. Chloé seems to be everywhere now, her perfume and presence invading him at every turn at school. He resigns himself to go along with it until he works out what to do.

Maybe in another parallel universe, his soulmate is Eliott.

 

**15 th February 19:45**

Lucas is on edge, still wondering a day later what the note could possibly mean, when he meets Chloé outside Eliott’s apartment. She bypasses the cheek kissing and pulls him into a tight hug and an overly enthusiastic kiss. When she holds his hand and drags him towards the building's front door, their bare wrists connect; his left and her right. It feels so wrong that Lucas almost shudders.

Eliott comes down to let them in after Chloé messages him that they’re outside. Lucas mouth practically waters at the sight of him; hair mussed as usual, light jeans and a dark hoodie. Lucas is again hit with the realisation that he's completely whipped as his upset over Eliott's no show the other day completely washes away. Eliott seems happy to see him until his eyes lock onto Lucas and Chloé’s joined hands. His gaze smoulders with an unfamiliar emotion and he doesn’t take his eyes off their linked fingers the entire way up to the flat.

Lucas drops Chloé’s hand like a hot coal and flexes his fingers at the nearest opportunity, watching as she kisses Lucille on the cheek in greeting. He can see Eliott smirking out of the corner of his eye as he looks at Lucas’ hand.

‘Cramp?’ Eliott asks, all faux innocence.

‘Something like that,’ he mumbles, cheeks heating.

‘It’s nice to meet you, Lucas, I’ve heard a lot about you,’ Lucille says with a smile. She pointedly looks at Eliott after.

He tries his best to politely return the grin but his mind’s stuck on her look. _What did it mean?_

‘Great to meet you, too.’

Lucille’s eyebrows jump then and she cocks her head in the direction of the living room. Eliott somehow manages to bring in two glasses, a bottle of wine and a couple of beers from the kitchen by himself but nearly breaks everything as he deposits it all on the coffee table. Lucas coughs to hide a laugh at Eliott’s struggle but he’s pretty sure Eliott notices. Lucille busies herself with pouring the wine for her and Chloé.

Chloé snuggles up to Lucas’ side on the couch, winding her arms around his and resting her head on his shoulder. He’s incredibly fucking tense and he’s sure it shows.

‘So how long have you been together?’ Lucille asks after having a sip of wine. Eliott fidgets and takes a long pull of his beer from where he’s perched on the armchair.

Lucas blanches at the question and he really doesn’t want to hear Chloé’s answer, wishes the attention was on something else.

‘We’ve been taking things pretty chill, but I’d say… since early last month?’ She nods happily and then reaches over for her wine glass. No, Lucas isn’t going to throw up, nor is he going to cry at Eliott’s suddenly cold facial expression, he isn’t _that_ dramatic. Lucille seems shocked and bobs her head a little, continuously flicking her eyes back and forth between Chloé and Eliott.

‘ _Very_ chill,’ he stresses through a light cough, ignoring Chloé’s hurt look.

Lucille rolls her eyes and mouths ‘ _boys_ ’ towards Chloé. Lucas jumps slightly as Eliott suddenly slams his now empty beer bottle on the table. Lucas has barely even had a sip of his so he’s not sure how Eliott finished his so fast. Lucille watches like a hawk as Eliott stands up.

‘Lucas, another beer?’ His eyes burn as he stares meaningfully down at Lucas. Discreetly, he hides his almost-full beer bottle from Chloé’s view and nods, following Eliott to the kitchen.

The girls’ now slightly strained chatter floats from the living room as Eliott pulls open his fridge and stares into it for what feels like an age.

Lucas raises an eyebrow and gently places his beer down on the kitchen table. ‘Everything alright?’

Eliott hums and finally shuts the door without even taking anything out. Lucas frowns as he turns to face him, leaning against the counter and folding his arms tightly across his chest.

‘Ever since you said about Chloé stressing you out, I haven’t really got good vibes from her,’ Eliott says carefully, eyes just as intense.

The response shocks him. His brain can’t really process the words, so it eventually just resorts to reply with a dumb inside joke. ‘ _Vibes_ , there it is again. Now I’m starting to think you really were faking your music taste last time.’

Eliott smiles softly at him and looks down. Lucas can feel the back of his neck heating up. The air feels thick and for a stupid, stupid second Lucas wonders if the topic of soulmates is going to come up.

‘Do you like her? If you do, I’ll keep my opinions to myself,’ Eliott says quietly and seriously, gaze back on Lucas.

Normally, in any other situation, Lucas would have said yes. He would have put up a front and faked it just so he wouldn’t have anyone asking questions he didn’t want to answer. But with Eliott it’s different. He feels comfortable with Eliott in a way he hasn’t with anyone else, he can’t lie to him or himself anymore and he finds that he doesn’t really want to.

‘No.’ It comes out as a whisper, but it carries like a shout.

A few emotions flit over Eliott’s face but he can only pick out a couple; relief and determination, the most prominent.

Eliott narrows his eyes and smiles mischievously. Lucas feels his gut tighten at the look. ‘We’re leaving.’

Lucas is so puzzled he doesn’t reply for a moment. ‘Wait, what do you mean?’

Eliott pushes himself off the counter and steps forward, suddenly a whole lot closer. Lucas is intoxicated by the proximity. ‘I’m sure our “dates” will be fine... I want to show you something.’

Lucas stares up at the taller boy, wide-eyed. Eventually, Eliott rolls his eyes and grabs Lucas’ hand, pulling him along like a rag doll to the coat rack in the hall and grabbing their jackets.

‘We’re going to get more beer, we ran out!’ Elliot throws carelessly over his shoulder before bustling Lucas hastily out the door.

Chloé and Lucille are probably annoyed and confused. And Lucas can’t identify a shred of his being that cares. 

_This is him reaching out and making it up to me._

 

**15 th February 20:27**

His breath comes fast and heavy as he and Eliott run through the street. He’s giddy in the best way, trusting Eliott completely even though he doesn’t have a fucking clue where they’re going. He doesn’t care as long as he’s alone with Eliott, he admits to himself.

Eliott slows as they come to a locked gate, a quiet rumble of thunder echoing in the distance as Eliott jimmies the lock.

‘This is what you wanted to show me? Your breaking and entering skills?’

Eliott chuckles as the lock pops open. ‘You’ll see.’

Cryptic. Lucas is intrigued as Eliott ushers him through the gate.

The world grows impossibly dark around them as they step onto a tree lined path, barely any moonlight visible through the thick branches above them. Eliott pauses for a second, rummaging around in his coat’s inside pocket before he pulls out a small flashlight triumphantly and clicks it on.

‘You just carry a full torch around with you in your jacket?’ Lucas asks skeptically as he switches his (way more normal) phone light on.

Eliott beams at him, light hitting the elegant slopes of his face in endlessly interesting ways. ‘Well, yeah. I come here a lot but I never plan it, so I never know when I might need one.’ He taps his nose twice with his free hand. ‘Always be prepared.’

‘Oh yeah?’

Eliott nods eagerly, slowing their pace a little. ‘It’s my favourite place in the city. I come here when I want to be alone.’

Lucas side-eyes him. ‘You bring people to the place where you want to be alone?’

‘You’re the first,’ Eliott replies like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Lucas can’t help himself; he still hasn’t forgotten the people they’d abandoned back at the apartment and their significance. ‘Not even Lucille?’

Eliott’s eyes roll before he stares at Lucas, exasperated. Lucas genuinely can’t imagine why. ‘Well, there was this one wild summer we spent here…’ Lucas’ heart stops and he stumbles over his own feet. Eliott shakes his head and steadies the shorter boy. ‘I’m kidding, Lucas. No, you’re the first. Of course you’re the first.’

His voice is cloaked in an emotion Lucas can’t classify but it manages to kick start his heart again anyway. They walk in silence for a little while until the light gets a lot dimmer. Lucas groans and taps uselessly at his phone.

‘Battery’s dead.’

Eliott smiles warmly, dismissing it as a non-issue, and places his hand on his upper arm. ‘I’ll guide you, don’t worry.’

‘You’ll guide me?’ Lucas says with an answering grin. The ghost of Eliott’s touch on his arm sends light tremors coursing through his body that he attempts to hide. Eliott nods and keeps his hand in place, a gentle force pulling Lucas along the path.

‘We’re here,’ Eliott murmurs after a few more minutes, shining his light on a slightly run-down looking bridge. Recognition clicks in Lucas’ mind, but he can’t quite grasp for what reason.

Eliott wastes no time in dragging Lucas towards the underbelly of the bridge, practically giggling in excitement. The sound warms Lucas to his core.

They’re both breathless as they reach Eliott’s destination. Lucas takes in the graffiti and wonders how much of it, if any, was done by the boy beside him.

‘Do you like it?’ Eliott asks, lips a brush away from his ear.

‘Thank you for inviting me,’ Lucas replies, grinning and watching as Eliott engulfs the space, moving around Lucas and shining the light into every crevice under the overpass. His movements are mesmerising, and Lucas finds himself almost breaking his neck to track him and not lose any precious eye contact.

‘Really… are you not afraid?’

Lucas hadn’t allowed himself to properly register the dark, too enamored by Eliott’s brilliantly alive presence. Maybe now that attention’s been brought to the pure blackness of the night around them, he’s a little scared.

‘Me? Nope. Not afraid.’

‘No?’

‘Not afraid,’ he repeats.

He’s suddenly drenched in darkness, a spike of terror stabbing his belly.

‘Eliott?!’

The light returns and Eliott’s behind him, grinning like a lunatic, face lit up from below. He's pretty sure he's seen this exact scene in a horror film.

‘Idiot,’ Lucas snickers breathlessly.

‘You didn’t seem very not afraid then,’ Eliott says, smirking. He shrugs. ‘You actually seemed _very_ afraid.’

‘Shut up, I told you, I’m not afraid.’

‘Okay,’ Eliott laughs. Lucas steps closer to the other boy, almost crowding him. ‘I won’t do it again, though.’

‘That’s really kind of you.’ Lucas chuckles and moves ever closer, marveling at how the artificial light plays in Eliott’s blue eyes.

Despite what he promised, Eliott continues to toy with him, turning the torch on and off and appearing in different places around Lucas, at one point hovering just above his lips, stealing Lucas’ breath away and then turning off the light at the last second before they actually connected. The last time he does it is the longest, and Lucas starts to genuinely panic again.

‘Eliott? Where are you?’ He can’t help but let a little of his nervousness seep into his tone as a loud crack of thunder sounds above him. He turns back to the way they entered the tunnel and there he is. He’s already soaked, rain pouring around him. The weak moonlight gives him a dreamy, ethereal glow and Lucas thinks he looks beautiful. His anxiety washes away as he slowly makes his way over to Eliott, stopping at the boarder between shelter and rainfall.

‘Are you afraid of the rain, too?’ Eliott asks quietly.

Lucas feels his hands twitch at his sides, wanting to reach out. Eliott glances down at his hands and then smiles secretly to himself.

In an eerily familiar gesture, Eliott lifts his arms, fingers outstretched and searching for contact. Lucas matches his smile and threads their fingers together, pulse running wild. _This is happening._

Their hands fit together perfectly, Eliott’s slightly larger ones gently squeezing Lucas’ own. Lucas draws his gaze up to meet Eliott’s and their arms move, wrists perfectly connecting. A spark of electricity shoots down Lucas' arm from where his left wrist meets Eliott's skin. He can’t hold himself back anymore, lunging forward and connecting his lips with Eliott’s. The response is immediate, Eliott grabbing the sides of his face and giving Lucas everything. Lucas sinks into the passion, desperately kissing him and grasping at his drenched clothing. Claps of thunder match with Lucas’ heart beats every now and then and he feels like everything’s finally slotting into place.

The moment feels bigger than them, yet Lucas’ entire world is zeroed in on Eliott’s lips.

Snippets of all of their interactions up until this point flicker behind his eyelids like an old film. His hand flies up to clutch at the back of Eliott’s head and the same time Eliott fists his hand in Lucas’ hair. Lucas shivers at how in sync they are, lips and bodies moving together in harmony. The relief they both feel that they’re finally together like this after weeks of tension, secret drawings and stolen glances bleeds out of both of them and filters through their kisses.

They break apart for a moment and Lucas sees his own awed expression mirrored in Eliott’s. The rain continues to fall and they crash back together again, unable to get enough contact, arms awkwardly wrapping around each other and overlapping but it still feels seamless.

He knows he’ll never get sick of this and for once, for _once_ he’s telling the truth: he’s truly not afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lucas: maybe in another parallel universe, his soulmate is eliott.  
> me: lucas… u clueless idiot  
> i'm sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed? (even tho it's like the longest chapter lmao) or maybe i re-hashed canon too much i'm not sure, i'm not very happy with it ahh let me know what you think<3  
> [tumblr](http://cheloueliott.tumblr.com)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their kisses and touches feel like release. Lucas hasn’t really allowed himself to think too deeply about how much he’d wanted to do this with Eliott ever since he’d met him out of his own fear, but he knows this has been a long time coming. And it feels perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry about the wait and that the chapter's so short, i've had a few issues with writing and a lack of inspiration recently. i hope you enjoy, though!  
> also, i'm working on a collab fic at the moment (bound to you), you can find it on my page!

**16 th February 09:17**

Lucas can feel Eliott’s heartbeat thump against his own. Chest against chest, mouths locked, fingers pulling at hair. He feels like he’s dreaming.

Rolling, caressing, loving.

Their kisses and touches feel like release. Lucas hasn’t really allowed himself to think too deeply about how much he’d wanted to do this with Eliott ever since he’d met him out of his own fear, but he knows this has been a long time coming. And it feels perfect.

Eliott’s hands on his face, Eliott’s fingers teasing at his bare skin, Eliott’s eyes raking over his features all feel like worship. Lucas has never felt this way before, but he’s willing to wrap himself in Eliott’s presence and save thinking about the outside world for later.

Eventually, Eliott separates their mouths and just stares at Lucas. He breathes out a laugh and his smile is blinding; Lucas has to force himself not to squint in the face of it. Lucas runs his right hand down Eliott’s left arm and slowly links their fingers together. Eliott draws their hands back up and begins to pepper light kisses over each of Lucas’ digits. He can’t help but let out a breathy, disbelieving laugh, gaze trained on Eliott’s mouth. And then something catches his eye.

‘Eliott… your Timer,’ he blurts without thinking, finally noticing the matching blankness of the other boy’s wrist. An uncomfortable iciness settles around his heart as he remembers Lucille. The bubble they’d barely just wrapped themselves in begins to crack around him.

‘Lucas…’ Eliott murmurs, disentangling their hands and then stroking the side of his face gently. His eyes burn as they stare into Lucas’. The intensity makes his breath hitch.

‘Yeah?’ he whispers, swallowing heavily.

There’s a long pause where Eliott looks away. Lucas braces himself for the worst.

_He doesn’t mean anything to Eliott, he already has his soulmate, why would he be with Lucas? Other than to try something out that he was curious about, maybe. Finding your soulmate is a lot of pressure-_

‘I saw you on my first day of school.’

Lucas frowns a little, trying to pick up on the deeper meaning of the confession and the strange twist in the conversation. A slight warmth still spreads through his chest against his will. ‘Oh?’

‘I bumped into you when you were with your friends and you didn’t see me but… my Timer stopped.’

Never mind Timers stopping, Lucas’ entire being has just frozen. The article he’d read only the beginning of a month ago pops into his head.

_There have, however, been many recorded cases of discrepancies in when the Timers have predicted a subject will meet their soulmate and when the event actually occurred._

‘Lucas?’ Eliott prompts. His voice sounds nervous and his hands have grown quite still against Lucas’ body.

‘I thought Lucille…’ he trails off, feeling like he can’t quite breathe properly.

Eliott shakes his head. ‘Lucille’s not my girlfriend.’

He turns his gaze back to Eliott and shoots him a soft smile, everything hitting him at once.

‘I’m your soulmate?’

_I have a soulmate._

Eliott breaks out into the biggest grin and it’s amazingly infectious. Suddenly, Lucas is enveloped in a tight hug, his face buried in Eliott’s neck. He feels him nod.

‘Wow,’ Lucas whispers, voice muffled.

Lucas can’t quite unpack everything in this moment; the emotions he’s had to go through regarding this whole situation up until now will have to wait to be untangled later.

Wait. Oh _fuck_. How had he not connected the dots the night before? Memories of Polaris and their night under the bridge hit him like a damn train.

‘Polaris?’ Lucas mumbles, not quite realising he’d spoken aloud.

Eliott sits up slightly at that, getting a better look at Lucas’ face. ‘Polaris,’ he repeats before beaming, eyes crinkling to accommodate the grin.

‘Fuck,’ Lucas chuckles in wonder.

‘I’m not really one for subtlety.’ He wiggles his eyebrows.

‘No shit,’ Lucas titters, brushing Eliott’s stray hairs away from his forehead. He swallows again and flicks his eyes down and then back up again. ‘I’m glad you’re not, though.’

Eliott draws his thumb across Lucas’ bottom lip lightly. The touch makes him quiver as butterflies swirl around his insides. Then Eliott leans in and delicately presses their lips together. With that, Lucas is completely and utterly gone.

It seems like hours later when Eliott speaks again, half naked and draped across his back.

‘How many Lucas and Eliott’s do you think are soulmates?’ he asks. There’s definitely a weight to his tone that Lucas can’t quite figure out.

‘All of them,’ he murmurs.

 

**16 th February 19:27**

**Yann (15/02 20:11):** _lucas do u need saving yet?_

 **Yann (15/02 21:30):** _how’s it going??_

 **Yann (15/02 21:45):** _wait have you pulled_

 **Yann (15/02 21:50):** _have fun padawan ;)_

 **Lucas (16/02 19:27):** _i’ll tell you everything on monday, i promise_

 

**17 th February 12:19**

Not wanting to leave each other, but also wanting more privacy than Lucas’ apartment could provide them, they make their way back to Eliott’s flat. When the door opens, he’s almost expecting to see Chloé on the other side of it, glaring and yelling at them. He’s thankful to find the apartment devoid of her presence.

‘Coffee?’ Eliott asks chirpily.

‘Sure,’ Lucas replies with a smile.

Eliott’s movements are so bouncy and full of energy it’s contagious. Lucas follows him into the kitchen and heaves himself up to sit on the counter. Eliott turns on the coffee machine and then smirks, making his way over to Lucas and settling between his legs. Lucas is ashamed to admit he practically giggles as Eliott showers his face and neck with soft kisses. He threads his fingers through the strands of Eliott’s hair, pulling him closer as Eliott grips his jean-clad thighs.

Lucas’ stomach rumbling interrupts Eliott’s ministrations. He pulls back and smiles warmly at him.

‘Do you want me to make you something?’

Lucas narrows his eyes and continues to play with Eliott’s hair absentmindedly. ‘Why do I feel like you’re going to be terrible at cooking?’

Eliott’s mouth drops open in mock offense and he jiggles Lucas’ leg a little in admonishment. ‘I can make a mean toastie, actually.’

‘It’s like you finally find your soulmate-‘ Lucas carries on, ‘-and they’re completely perfect but then you find out they can burn cereal or something.’

Eliott’s eyes become half-moons and he tilts his head to the side. ‘I’m perfect, am I?’

Lucas rolls his eyes and tries to hide his grin to no avail. ‘Shut up. _That’s_ what you took away from that?’

‘You’re perfect, too,’ Eliott mumbles, burying his face in Lucas’ neck and pressing tender kisses to his skin. Lucas can’t believe this is real, that he gets to have this with _Eliott_ of all people. He wraps his arms around the taller boy’s shoulders and hugs him close, breathing in the faint scent of his shampoo. They forget about the coffee.

Later, Eliott’s casually burning their cheese toasties when Lucas’ mind starts to churn. He’s still in his happy bubble, sure, but he’s also still trying to piece the past few weeks together. He has so many questions that he thinks he’ll explode if he doesn’t ask at least a couple soon.

They migrate to the sofa to eat their food, Lucas grimacing as he bites down on a whole peppercorn Eliott somehow managed to leave in the sandwich. Eliott laughs at his scrunched-up face and shakes his head, putting his plate on the coffee table and sitting back.

‘Maybe you’re right… I’m shit at cooking,’ Eliott titters.

Lucas smiles over at him and shuffles closer to the other boy’s side. ‘It’s not _awful_ … if you pick off the burnt bits, it tastes pretty good.’

‘Lucas, the whole thing is burnt,’ Eliott laughs, grabbing a pre-rolled joint from the tobacco tin on the table. Despite the warmth flowing through his veins just looking at Eliott, Lucas’ anxieties start to creep up on him again. Perhaps now is as good a time to bring them up as any.

‘So…’ Lucas starts, clearing his throat and setting his plate down next to Eliott’s. Eliott’s gaze flicks up as he cups his hand around the end of his joint, lighting it. ‘If you weren’t with Lucille… and you already knew who I was… _why_ didn’t you come up to me sooner?’

Eliott looks a little cautious as he takes a drag of the joint. Lucas needs to know, though. Why the fuck had Eliott left him pining for so long, all the while possibly thinking that his soulmate was _dead_. He’s not angry at him, just confused. He holds his breath as the other boy begins to speak.

‘On my first day, I figured out pretty quickly that you hadn’t noticed your Timer stop. You didn’t look at me once.’ Eliott sounds a bit sad as he says this. ‘I couldn’t focus at school for the whole day, hoping to run into you, maybe try to talk to you just so I could hear your voice… Anyway, whenever I tried to approach you after that, you were always with your friends or something would come up. I got frustrated, I’m not going to lie,’ Eliott chuckles, rubbing Lucas’ knee soothingly, clearly noticing his concerned expression. Eliott draws back and bites his lower lip before speaking again. ‘But I knew you needed time. And I wanted to give you it. Seeing you with Chloé… The way you’d look at me but wouldn’t get too close…’

Lucas stares at Eliott, his heart tightening in his chest. Without thinking, he reaches out and grabs Eliott’s hand, rubbing soothing circles on the back of it with the pad of his thumb. He decides he’s heard enough for the time being, desperate for Eliott’s sunny grin to return to his features.

‘Well, I know now, so,’ Lucas murmurs, smiling gently. Eliott grips his hand back just as tightly and returns the expression.

‘At least I still got to hang out with you,’ Eliott says before placing the joint between his lips again. ‘Thank fuck for the common room.’

Lucas lets out a laugh and pulls Eliott towards him. The older boy allows himself to slump forward and be wrapped in Lucas’ arms. ‘I’m sure you would have found a way to talk to me eventually,’ Lucas mumbles into Eliott’s hair. ‘But, yeah. Thank fuck for the common room.’


End file.
